You Have Me
by Knightwolf
Summary: Keitaro accompanies Seta on a dig in Kyoto. While he's there he finds a mysterious artifact. After Keitaro returns, he slowly begins to change. Final chap now up!
1. Sunset on the balcony

That's right, the Keitaro / Motoko continues. This is yet another sequel story to the previous stories I wrote which are 'Compassionate Swordplay', 'Love's Sharp Blade' and 'Moving Foreward'. This story will take more of a darker turn than the previous stories. So be forewarned: Angst alert. Never the less, I hope you enjoy the story. Love Hina is owned by Ken Akamatsu, Xebec, Bandai, Etc. Enjoy and please let me know what you think.

**You Have Me**

Keitaro ran down the hallways of the Hinata apartments in excitement. In his hand was a letter from Seta, asking him if he would join him for two weeks in Kyoto to be his assistant on a new dig. Outside, the warm August wind blew strong through the many trees that surround the apartments. It was late afternoon, about to cross over into early evening.

Stopping at Motoko's door, Keitaro gave a quick knock before entering. To his disappointment, the room was empty. Behind him he heard the sound of Su's singing coming closer.

"When you can't fall asleep at night, let's just have fun till morning, make everything merry then laugh, laugh away…"

She danced by him, stopped, turned and looked up at Keitaro with her bright green eyes and wide smile. "Oh, Keitaro! If you are looking for Motoko, she said she was going to take a bath in the hot springs." Su then continued her eccentric, but cheerful song and dance down the hallway.

'Hmm. Well, I may get creamed for this, but it'll be worth it to tell her the great news. Hot springs? Hey, wait a minute. Why am I getting déjà vu? Oh well, it doesn't matter.' On towards the hot springs he ran. Arriving at the entrance of the women's bath, Keitaro closed his eyes and threw open the doors.

"Motoko, guess what! Seta sent me a letter and he wants me to join him on a dig in Kyoto! This is a great opportunity to earn some field study credits for Tokyo U!" The strange silence caused him to peak open one eye and then open the other. What he saw wasn't quite what he'd expected. Motoko, standing in the water, body wrapped in a towel…with a sweet smile on her face?

'I'm…_not_ going to get pile-drived?' he thought in confusion.

"Keitaro, that's excellent news. I'm so happy for you." She said, continuing to hold the sweet smile.

'Oh, phew.' He thought with a sigh of relief.

"However," She said, grabbing her sword.

"Huh?" Keitaro said, before catching sight of the sword she seemingly brought out from nowhere.

Still holding the smile, she said,

"Even though we are engaged and I love you very much…" Keitaro knew what was coming, so he prepared himself accordingly. Her eyes now glowing with anger like that of a demon, she continued, "…that still does not give you the right to walk in on a woman while she is bathing!"

'Here it comes.' He thought.

"Wind Force Devastating Blade!"

The incredible technique sent Keitaro flying back into the building, screaming, "I'm sorry, Motoko!" Motoko let out a sigh as she eased herself back into the warm and soothing waters.

She smiled to herself and said, "I love that man to death, but he can be such an idiot sometimes."

She placed her sword on the stone next to her.

"I am really glad that he's starting to bring his dreams of being an archaeologist into reality. Hmm…dreams."

Motoko then became uneasy as she remembered a dream she had had the night before. She hadn't told Keitaro of the dream's details, for fear it might worry him.

In her dream, she and Keitaro were running happily together through a large grassy field with the warm sun shining down from the blue skies above them. The tall and full trees of the forest surrounding the field rang with the songs of bluebirds. Joyfully, they ran on, until Keitaro took Motoko in his arms and they both fell against the soft, tall grass. They laughed loudly as they've never felt the happiness they share more strongly than this.

As their laughter slowly came to a stop, Keitaro ran the back of his fingers over the fair skin of Motoko's cheek. Gently, Motoko removed Keitaro's glasses so she could look into his beautiful brown eyes. They closed the distance between their lips and kissed deeply, passionately. They laid there, blissful in eachother's embrace. The emotion they felt. 'Joy' did the feeling no justice, but they experienced it none the less. Soft kisses and sensual caresses had brought them both to the point of ecstasy. They gently whispered sweet little nothings in eachother's ear.

Then they felt a small quake come from the ground beneath them. They both stood up, confused as they looked around. The quake came again. Suddenly, the ground under Keitaro's feet started to loosen and give away until two gray, horrid looking hands sprang up from the dirt and grabbed hold of Keitaro's ankles. Before Motoko could act, the hands pulled Keitaro underneath the ground. "Keitaro! No!" She screamed as she threw herself to the ground and dug desperately at the place where he went under.

"Give him back! Give my Keitaro back to me!" She cried.

Dark clouds filled the sky above her, blocking out the sun as she futily clawed at the dirt.

Motoko stood up with tears pouring down her face. She turned around and to her surprise, saw Keitaro standing there with his back facing her. She started to run to him.

"Keitaro! I thought I'd lost you!" She said, but then suddenly she stopped.

Something about him was different, frighteningly different. Cautiously, she walked up and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Keitaro?"

Keitaro quickly took Motoko's hand and turned around. He had a strange grin on his face and an evil look in his eyes.

"You're mine…" he said.

"What's wrong with you, Keitaro? You're frightening me." She said, trying to free herself from his grip but couldn't. His face began to change and transform.

"You're mine, last descendent of Aoyama!" He said, pulling her closer. His face had become like that of the demons depicted in Japan's early history. His hands now had long claws. Sharp teeth had curled out from underneath his lips.

"No! You're not Keitaro! Let me go!" She yelled.

"Mine forever. Hahahahah!" He said, laughing in a warped and distorted voice that sent paralyzing chills down Motoko's spine. Closer and closer he pulled her to him. Motoko, going insane with terror, screamed "Noooooooooooooooooooooo!"

That was the moment Motoko sat up in her futon as her scream echoed back at her from the walls of her room. She immediately threw the covers off of her and ran down the hall, down the stairs and into Keitaro's room. She laid down next to him underneath his covers and put her arms around him, burying her head in his chest. Keitaro, being wakened from his sleep said,

"Motoko? Is everything okay?" he said groggily. Then he felt her trembling as she clung to him.

"You're shaking. What's wrong, sweetheart?" He said, sitting up and holding her.

"I…I just had a bad dream. Can I sleep here for the rest of the night, Keitaro?" She asked, her voice shaky.

"Of course, Motoko." He said, placing his hands on both sides of her face to help calm her down.

Keitaro then slowly laid back on the futon and Motoko rested her head on his chest. He pulled the covers up to her shoulders and began to gently stroke her hair until she fell back asleep.

A quick gust of wind blow over the steamy waters of the open-air bath, bringing Motoko's thoughts back to the here and now. But the images of the dream still haunted her.

'It was nothing. Just a dream, nothing more.' She kept trying to reassure herself.

Then she looked down at the ring on her finger. She let out a content sigh as she formed a little smile.

'Such a ridiculous dream. Nothing will ever take my dearest from me. Ever.' She thought, gripping the hilt of her sword tightly. Then her grip loosened.

'After all, we made a promise to one another. Soon, I am to be his bride. And he is to be my husband.'

She then looked up to the sky with a bright smile.

"I can't wait."

The sun went down and Keitaro found himself leaning against the wooden railing, looking out over the back courtyard. He could smell the sun baked wood from the long day. The clothes rustled in the wind behind him. Then he looked at the horizon, which was painted with reds and purples. Remembering the incident in the hot spring that he'd just experienced, he was now able to recall a dream he had the night before.

In the dream, he walked into the woman's bath with several cleaning supplies, ready to scrub the bathing area. As he set his bucket and brushes down he looked up and was shocked to see Motoko there. Bathing in the springs, she was holding up a towel that covered her front.

"Oh! I-I'm sorry, Motoko! I didn't know anyone else was in here!" He said, averting his eyes. He quickly turned and started toward the doorway.

"It's okay, Keitaro. I'm the only one here after all." She said, softly as she formed a seductive smile.

"Huh?" He said, turning around in disbelief.

"Why don't you join me?" She extended her hand to him, beckoning him to come near.

Keitaro swallowed with a nervous 'Gulp' "J-Join you?"

"Yes, I could use some company. Besides, I don't mind if it's you who sees me." She said, letting the towel drop to the water, exposing her…assets.

With small, seductive steps, she slowly moved closer to him. Blood now dripping from Keitaro's nose, he was speechless. His wide eyes beheld a sight he'd never imagined in his wildest dreams. Then he quickly covered his eyes and said,

"U-Um, Motoko? Are you feeling alright?"

"Ooooooooh, don't be that way, Keitaro." She whined playfully, taking his hands from his face.

'This can't possibly be happening. Motoko would never act this way. Unless…it's a dream! Yeah, that's right!' he thought.

Motoko happily trotted back into the waters and started forming sexy poses.

"If this is a dream, then I don't wanna wake up!" He said, taking off his clothes as fast as he could.

As he did this, everything went dark. When the light came back, he realized that he was somewhere else. The hotsprings were gone and he found himself in the vast, nighttime forest. The wind that blew against him was cold as if it were January. He looked down to see white powdery snow covering the ground at his feet and that his clothes had changed. He was wearing the traditional samurai robes of over two hundred years past. Two samurai swords hung at his left side.

'Where am I now? The dream was just getting good.'

Keitaro stood there confused as he looked all around him, seeing no lights that suggested any surrounding buildings. Then he heard the sound of twigs snapping from the forest behind him. It was from footsteps and they were fast. First the sounds came from behind him, then from the darkness before him, then his left. Someone or something was circling him. Keitaro grew impatient. He yelled out,

"Who are you! What do you want!"

The swift steps on the forest floor stopped. Then Keitaro heard a voice from the darkness.

"What does any prisoner want? Freedom is what I desire, Keitaro."

"How do you know my name! Who are you!" Keitaro yelled back.

Then Keitaro heard the footsteps coming toward him and then he could see someone emerging from the darkness of the woods in front of him. It was the golden eyed, black creature from Keitaro's dreams.

"No…" Keitaro said, shrinking back in fear as the creature walked toward him.

"Freedom is what you're going to give me." The creature said. "For you are the key that will open my cage." The creature then dashed at Keitaro.

When Keitaro was awoken, he found that he was not being held tightly by the creature, but by his beloved Motoko. Her sweet scent relaxed him instantly. She told him that she had had a bad dream and asked if she could sleep with him. As she said this, the memory of Keitaro's dream had evaporated.

The sound of footsteps came from the stairs to his right. He looked to see Motoko. Her eyes lit up as they met his.

"There you are. I've been looking everywhere for you." She said as she joined him in watching the horizon.

Keitaro wrapped his arm around her waist and held her close. "Yeah, I was just up here thinking."

"What were you thinking about?" she said, leaning her head against his.

"Just a…bad dream I had last night."

"You had a bad dream too? Why didn't you tell me?" She said, turning to him.

"I actually forgot it as soon as I woke up and found you holding on to me. It was…" Keitaro shuttered as he remembered the fear he felt in that cold forest.

"It was him, wasn't it? The golden eyed creature." She said.

"Yes." He said softly as his eyes fell.

"Listen, my dearest." She said, taking his face in her hands. "The bad dreams will fade away. I'll always stay by your side and protect you. Do you understand?"

Keitaro nodded with a tender smile and said, "And I promise to stay with you and protect you no matter what."

The two shared a sweet embrace. "I love you, Motoko." "I love you, Keitaro."

Motoko turned back to the horizon with her arms still wrapped around the back of his neck.

"You know, Keitaro…we still haven't set a date yet."

"I know and I'm sorry. Everything's just been so hectic this summer. I mean with summer classes and that whole thing that happened with all of us and Su in the Kingdom of Molmol."

"Yeah, it has been crazy." She said with a sigh.

Keitaro looked over and saw a troubled look on her face.

"How about this? Let's set it for May. How does that sound?" He said, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"That sounds perfect." She said softly as she smiled.

"Oh, by the way. According to Seta's letter, I'll be away for about two weeks. Are you going to be okay while I'm gone?" He said.

"Sure. As long as we get to talk on the phone, I'll be fine." She said as she moved back and held onto his arm. She looked back out at the horizon.

"No problem. I'll call you every day." He said.

"Promise?" She said, looking over to him.

"I promise." Keitaro proudly said.

They shared a quiet moment together as they watched the horizon get darker and darker. Then Motoko patted Keitaro's arm and said,

"Come on, we have to get up early tomorrow." She took his hand and led him toward the steps.

"Early? Why?" he said, puzzled as he walked with her.

"_Someone_ has been slacking off on their Kendo practice, lately. I want you in the courtyard with me at 6:30am sharp!" She said as they walked down the steps and into the main house.

"Alright, alright. 6:30am it is. It's only been a few weeks. My skills haven't dulled that much." He said.

"We'll see about that." She said, with a smile.

The next day came swiftly. The thick early morning fog covered the ground of the back courtyard, so much so that the land was barely visible. The sky above was overcast, making it look as if it were made simply of whites and grays with its former blue being merely a fallacy. Somewhere a clock rang 6:45.

Wandering in the courtyard was Keitaro, holding his Kendo sword in front of him. Stepping softly and keeping his senses open to the area around him, he took long and quiet deep breaths. He took one step, then another, looking to his right and to his left. He squinted his eyes to see farther into the foggy mist. Then, the rising sun peeked through a hole in the white and gray marble of the horizon, casting long shadows across the fog.

One of these shadows, Keitaro noticed, moved very swiftly around him. Quickly, the shadow disappeared from his sight. Then he heard a loud battle-cry come from directly above him.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Keitaro performed a back flip and landed several feet away. Motoko struck the ground where he stood, both with her sword and the power of her chi, causing chunks of earth to fly out all around her.

"Nice move." She said, recovering quickly.

"Thanks. Now prepare yourself!" Keitaro yelled, making a dash toward Motoko.

He raised his sword up high and then swung down at Motoko to which she quickly dodged to the side. Seeing this, Keitaro immediately swung to his side at Motoko to which she ducked, parried his sword, spun around behind him and swung her sword down at him. With great speed, Keitaro moved his sword up and over his back, blocking the strike and quickly moved his elbow back and struck her chest, catching her off guard. Welcoming the challenge, Motoko grinned and let out a devilish "Heh".

As Keitaro turned around to face her, she spun around and sent Keitaro flying backwards with a roundhouse kick. Keitaro, now sliding backwards on his back, reached his hands into the moving ground behind him and flipped over, regaining his stance. His sword, having fallen from his hand, was lost in the fog. This made no difference to Motoko, who now made the mad dash toward _him_! Keitaro, eyes wide and forming a sneer, decided to gung-ho it and run towards her.

Lets slow time down here for a few seconds. Motoko, moving closer to Keitaro, pushes her sword out in front of her in a thrusting motion. Keitaro, running at full speed, strafes to the side of the blade, allowing her to move past him. Seeing this, she quickly stops, spins around and swings her sword down in a chopping motion at Keitaro. Keitaro raises his hands up and catches the blade in his palms. He spins around 180 degrees and puts quick pressure on her wrists with his elbow, causing her to let go of the sword.

Tossing the sword aside, he turns another 180 degrees, grabs her wrists and raises them up, sweeps her feet out from under her and lowers her to the ground.

Now Keitaro holds her hands at her sides, straddling her. Both of them breathing deep and trying to catch their breath. As he held her there, he said

"Surrender"

She simply glared at him. Then Keitaro slowly let go of her wrists, formed a smile and moved his fingers to the sides of her ribs. Then he started tickling her.

Motoko let out a squeal. "No! Stop! Stop! Nooooooooo! Hahahahahahaha!"

"Surrender." Keitaro said, his smile growing ever wider.

"Never! Hahahahaha!" She yelled.

As their faces drew closer, the tickling stopped. They began to kiss deeply. After a moment, Motoko decided to take advantage of this situation. She reached up and started tickling Keitaro. Catching him off guard she turns Keitaro over and straddles _him_, continuing to tickle him.

"Surrender." She said with a big smile.

"No! Hahahahah! I can't!" he said, laughing uncontrollably.

"Surrender." She said.

"Okay, Okay! I surrender! Hahaha!" he yelled, giving up.

The two looked lovingly at eachother as they smiled.

"So, huff huff I figured you like to be on top of things." He said with a blush as she still straddled him.

Forming a blush also, she laid her hands on his chest and said,

"Well, I do like the view from up here. Besides, I like to be in control."

At those words she showed a devious smile, then slowly leaned down and continued their kiss. Keitaro wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her ever closer. The sun's rays heated the air, causing the fog to rise and clear.

Shinobu walked through the halls singing a song to herself, as she made her way to the doorway leading out to the courtyard.

"Wind. Oh, warm wind that slowly blows over my heart. Please bring my love to hiiiiiiiiiiiim."

She opened the doors and walked outside. Anticipating Keitaro and Motoko being out there somewhere, she raised her hands to the sides of her mouth and called out.

"Hey, guys! Breakfast is ready!"

Shinobu then looked over and saw the two and the position they were in. Her eyes grew big and shiny as her mouth fell open.

"Oh! Uh, Shinobu!" Keitaro said, waving his hands at the stunned blue-haired girl.

Shinobu made a quick dash for the apartments and said, "I'm so sorry for disturbing you!" before she disappeared inside.

"Wait, Shinobu! It's not what it looks like!" Keitaro yelled in vain.

"Well, actually Keitaro, it kinda is." She said, playfully.

Keitaro smiled up at her and let out a modest "heh"

She gave him a quick kiss, raised herself off of him and stood up.

"Come on, Keitaro. We'd better get to breakfast before we make Shinobu upset." She said, holding her hand out to him and helping him up.

"Yeah. I think I've worked up quite an appetite." He said, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"I'm really impressed Keitaro. That's the first time you managed to pin me down. Your adaptation and coordination are greatly improving." She said as they walked inside with their arms around eachother's waist.

"I didn't hurt you at all, did I?" He said, looking her over.

"No, I'm fine." She said.

"That was a good workout."

"Yeah, we should practice improvisation techniques more often."

Finding towels and throwing them around their necks, the two sat down at the dining room table with everyone else. All the residents now together, they all put their hands together and said,

"Thanks for the food!" and began to eat. After taking a sip from her miso soup, Kitsune set down her bowl and looked over to Keitaro.

"Say, Keitaro. When did you say you were leaving for that dig with Seta?" Kitsune said.

"Oh, in three days." He said.

"And you'll be gone for two weeks, huh?" Naru said from next to Kitsune.

"Mmm-hm" Keitaro nodded as he ate his rice.

"Make sure you come back with some really good food. Okay, Keitaro?" Kaolla Su said with her usual cheerfulness.

"You got it, Su." He said, to which Su replied, "Yeaaaa! Kyoto Cuisine!"

Putting down her cup of tea, Haruka turned to Keitaro and said,

"Be careful out there, Keitaro. Don't be exhausting yourself in the summer heat."

"Don't worry Aunt Haruka, I'll be fine."

At the mentioning of the word 'Aunt', Haruka grabbed her empty rice bowl and flung it at Keitaro's head, making contact with a loud 'THWAP'.

"It's _Miss_ Haruka." She said, calmly.

"Right, Sorry." Keitaro groaned, a little disoriented.

"Are you okay, Keitaro?" Motoko said, kissing the spot on his forehead where the bowl hit.

"I'm good, thanks." He said with a short laugh.

"That means we're not going to see you for a while, Keitaro." Shinobu said.

"Don't worry, Shinobu. It's only two weeks. Then I'll be back home. Maybe even sooner than that, depending on what we find out there." He said, reassuring her.

"Hey, Keitaro. Be sure to bring back some Sake, now." Kitsune said, with a smile.

"Don't you have enough, Kitsune?" He said with a wince.

"Yes, but I don't have any _Kyoto_ Sake." She said with a wave of her finger in the air. "Now, pick up at least two bottles."

"(Sigh) It's hopeless." He said to himself.

"So which part of Kyoto is Seta doing this Dig, Keitaro?" Motoko asked.

"I'm not really sure. He didn't say." Keitaro said, scratching his head, remembering as much as he could from the letter.

"Knowing him, it could be anywhere." Motoko said.

"Ain't that the truth." Haruka said.

"One time, Daddy got in trouble for digging in the White House front lawn. He claimed George Washington's secret set of ivory dentures were buried there." Sara said from across the table.

"Did he actually find anything?" Kitsune asked.

"He did, but it wasn't exactly what he was looking for. Instead, he found John Quincy Adams' secret stash of Louisiana Red Pepper sauce." Sara said.

"Heh heh heh, well isn't that interesting." Keitaro said, as everyone formed a sweat drop.

Breakfast was finished and everyone went off to their daily routines. Shinobu quickly cleared the table and brought everything into the kitchen. There she began to take her time washing all the dishes.

'Sempai,' she thought. 'He'll be gone for two whole weeks.' Then the vision of Keitaro being straddled by Motoko came into her mind. She gasped and with a red face she quickly waved her hands and dissipated the provocative thought cloud.

'I'm very happy for Keitaro and Motoko, I really am. But still…'

The expression on her face grew sad.

'…still, that doesn't change the fact that I…I love him so much.'

Shinobu continued to wash the dishes in silence. Outside the window above the sink, the wind began to blow through the courtyard, causing waves to form in the tall grasses behind the property.


	2. Discovery

Hey everyone. Here's chapter 2 of my newest Keitaro/Motoko story. I hope you like it and let me know what you think. Love Hina is owned by Ken Akamatsu, Xebec, Bandai, yadda-yadda. Enjoy!

You Have Me

Chapter 2

As the hot sun beat down on Keitaro's back as he continuously swung the pick-ax in his hands into the tough, unyielding dirt, one thought kept going through his head.

'Man, is this torture really worth the Field Study Credits for Tokyo U?'

Then he let out a groan as he rested his heavy tool for a few moments. He stood in a pit about 6 feet deep and 30 feet wide. As he wiped the sweat from his brow, he heard Seta's voice come from the edge of the pit.

"Hey, Part-timer! Oh, good idea. I was just about to ask you to take a break." Seta said, stepping down and balancing himself as he carefully slid down to where Keitaro was.

"Hey, Seta. Are you sure we're supposed to find something here? I've been at this for two and a half hours now. I haven't found anything yet." Keitaro said, leaning on his pick-ax.

"Well, according to my research, the Silver Mirror of Princess Mayumi should be at this exact spot. The Mirror, which dates back to the 16th century when Kyoto was capital of Japan, was Princess Mayumi's most beloved possession. And it's said to have contained magical powers, which could maintain youth indefinitely." Seta said.

"You really think that's true?" Keitaro asked.

"Who knows? I just want to find it so I can get back to Tokyo University as soon as possible." Seta said with a shrug.

"Yeah, me too." Keitaro agreed.

"Oh! I forgot. Here." Seta reached into his lab coat pocket and pulled out a cold soda and handed it to Keitaro.

"Wow! Thanks." Keitaro said as he took it, removed the cap and took a big gulp.

Seta took out a soda as well. "Don't worry, Part-timer. In three days, our two weeks will be up and we'll be out of here with or without the Mirror."

They both sat down and enjoyed their sodas as well as the temporary shade given to them by a small cloud moving under the sun. It was a little past noon. Keitaro had been on this dig for about a week and a half. He and Seta have been switching back and forth on digging duty in 3 hour shifts. They've been doing this every day from 8am to 6pm. In the first week, it rained for 3 days straight, followed by 4 days of mild weather. Now, for the past 4 days it's been like this: Sunny, hot and dry.

Keitaro calls home on a regular basis and talks to Motoko almost every day. Each time, she sounds more eager to see him home safely and soon. They talk about what they did during their days and how much they miss eachother. The only thing Keitaro has been reluctant to tell Motoko is how much his bad dreams have flared up since his arrival in Kyoto. Each night he's lucky to get, at most, five or six hours of sleep. Every moment of sleep, he sees the golden eyed creature. It taunts him, begs him, pushes him, screams at him, and laughs at him. Every night it's the same thing. Keitaro has come close to taking sleeping pills, many times, just to get a full night's sleep. But he's afraid that'll only make the dreams even longer.

After finishing his soda, Seta stood up and said,

"How about we switch off early, Keitaro? You're looking a little beat."

Keitaro set his soda down, lifted up his pick-ax and said,

"No, I'm fine. I can make it another half hour."

Seta looked him over and with a shrug said,

"Alright, then. If you feel you can hold out that long, I'll see you in a half an hour."

Seta then climbed out and disappeared over the edge. Keitaro lifted his pick up high.

"Okay! It's back to work!" He said to himself, enthusiastically.

After a while of swinging his pick into the hard earth, Keitaro heard a knock as he felt the pick-ax hit something that wasn't dirt.

'Could it be? Mayumi's Mirror?' He quickly set down the pick and began to move away the loose dirt with his hands. Something wooden was exposed. As he cleared away more and more earth, he saw that it was a knife with a wooden hilt inside a wooden sheath. Something was written on the sheath, but he could barely make it out, it being partly dirty and partly faded. He tried his best to read it.

'Hmm. Forbidden something something spirit Ichiro Akume. Okay, I'm assuming that last part is someone's name. But what do the words 'forbidden' and 'spirit' have to do with this person Akume, whoever they are. Anyway, I'd better show this to Seta. I'm sure he'd be more than interested to see what I've found. Hey, I wonder what condition the blade is in.'

Keitaro grabbed hold of the hilt and sheath and tried to pull out the blade as hard as he could. It just wouldn't budge. He tried at it again and again. After taking a few breaths he said, "Okay, one more time." He gave one last pull with everything he had and the blade finally became free. He held the blade out in the sun. It was a straight blade and terribly corroded. There was no shine at all through the brown and red colored rust. The blade's surface had scrapes, gouges, and dents in it.

'Jeez, what caused this kind of damage? It certainly wasn't age.' He said, as he looked it over. Then, as he touched the blade with his finger, he felt something very strange come over him. He felt disoriented and then his eyes went glassy. After a while, Seta showed up at the edge of the pit above him.

"Time to switch off, Part-timer! So, did you find anything?"

Keitaro, his eyes still blank and facing away from Seta, quickly slipped the knife into his belt under his shirt. Then he slowly turned around and said in a mono-toned voice,

"No, I didn't find anything. The pick is all yours, Seta."

Seta slid down next to Keitaro and said,

"You alright, Keitaro? You're looking a little white."

Keitaro simply walked by him and said,

"No, I'm fine." Keitaro then slowly climbed out and walked back to the archeology tent.

Watching him the whole way, Seta picked up the ax and said,

"That boy needs to get more fluids in him or something. He does not look good at all." Seta then turned around and started swinging away.

Back at the tent, Keitaro sat down at the wooden table, which was covered with the numerous things they had found so far in digs all around this area. There were fine bowls and plates from previous eras. Even clay pots with beautifully detailed painted figures on them. After a few minutes of staring blankly into the void, Keitaro snapped out of it. He looked around and said,

"Oh, that was weird. What was I doing again? Oh, the pottery." He said, looking down at the table. He then started cleaning the dirt from the fine crafted clay pieces in front of him.

Later that evening, Keitaro walked into his hotel room after a long hard day and the couple drinks at the local tavern with Seta. He set down his bag of tools and laid down on his bed with a tired sigh. A few minutes went by as he stared up at the white ceiling. Then he sat up, took off his shirt and tossed it on the floor. It was then that he noticed the knife still tucked in his belt.

"Hey, this is that knife that I found. Did Seta let me have this? Hmm, he must have."

Keitaro took it out, removed the knife from its sheath and looked at the blade, turning it over and over in the lamplight. He ran his finger over the rough, course texture of the blade's surface. The wood still had traces of lacquer polish on it, but most of it had been flaked away. As he continued to look it over, he couldn't really determine what time period it was from, seeing as many eras produced a similar if not the same type of knife. And he still lacked the knowledge to tell the eras apart when it came to these things.

'The wood of the hilt and sheath are still in pretty good shape, but the blade is completely ruined. I don't know what I'm going to do with it. But if it's mine to keep, I'm sure I can do something with it. If I keep the knife in its cover and polish the wood, maybe I could display it.'

Keitaro set the knife on the lamp table next to him. He let out a yawn as he looked over at his electric clock, which he brought with him from home. It read 9:01pm. He reached over, switched off the light and fell back on the bed. Within moments he was asleep and for the first time in a long time, he was not terrorized by nightmares.

Three days later, the dig was finished. Keitaro and Seta had found many rare and strange things, but unfortunately not one of them was Princess Mayumi's Mirror. As the two of them stepped up to the platform, awaiting their train, they realized there was still a few minutes until their train arrives.

"Thanks for all your help, Keitaro. You did a really good job on this trip. You may become a great archeologist yet." Seta said, as he lit up a cigarette.

"Oh, no. Thank you, Seta. I really needed these credits. Besides, it was kinda fun making lots of new discoveries." Keitaro said.

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself. It's been a few years since I've had a dig in Kyoto. Let me tell you. My last time here, the assistant that I brought with me wasn't quite as skilled at cleaning pottery as you are. But she sure was great company." Seta said, drifting off as if recalling sweet memories.

"It sounds like she made quite an impression on you." Keitaro said.

"Yeah, Haru- Uh! I mean yes. She, uh, certainly did." Seta said, catching himself and stumbling over his own words. Keitaro gave him a curious and suspicious look. Then after a few seconds, he decided it was nothing.

They both heard an announcement come over the PA system and within moments, their train pulled into the station. They both climbed onto the train and their luggage was loaded. Keitaro sat down at his seat and as he looked out the window, he thought of Motoko and how much he can't wait to see her. Slowly the train pulled out of the station and then speedily pushed on toward Hinata.


	3. Growing shadows

Here's the next chapter, guys. I've been doing my best to tweek the plotline to get it just right. I hope you like this chapter and look forward to the next one, which I've already started by the way. Love Hina is owned by Ken Akamatsu, Xebec, Bandai, etc. Enjoy!

You Have Me

Chapter 3

Keitaro walked through the front doors of the Hinata apartments with all his bags in hand. He was so glad to finally be home after the long train-ride. He walked up to the center of the lobby, set down his bags and called out,

"Hey, everyone. I'm home!"

First, Shinobu stuck her head out from the dining area. "Keitaro!" Her face immediately lit up with happiness and excitement. "Everyone! Keitaro is home!" she called. Within seconds, Keitaro was almost overwhelmed with hugs and eager questions about his trip as all the girls seemed to come out of everywhere at once. Then Motoko came running down the stairs.

"Keitaro!" She said with a bright smile. All the girls cleared a path for her as she ran right into Keitaro's arms.

"Welcome home, Keitaro!" Everyone said in unison.

"I'm home." He said with a big smile.

"Okay, guys. I brought gifts for everyone." Keitaro happily said as he led all of them to sit down on the lobby couches.

Keitaro opened up one of the bags and started handing out the gifts. Bananas for Su, Sake for Kitsune (big surprise), some Kyoto-style cookbooks for Shinobu, a CD for Naru from her favorite pop idol, a new Kendo uniform for Motoko, a new cardigan for Kanako, and a book for Haruka that was from Seta.

Haruka opened the book and as she read what was written for her on the first page, she blushed to the point where her face was a deep red. Noticing this, Keitaro said,

"You okay, Haruka?"

Haruka looked up at him quickly and said, "No-No! I'm fine! Oh! Look at the time! Gotta get going! Bye!"

And she ran out of the room, covering the redness on her face as best she could. Everyone else paused as they watched her disappear from their sight.

"Oooooooooooooooo-kay." Keitaro said, puzzled.

He then turned back to the girls and started telling them all about his trip. The girls hung on his every word as he described all the cool artifacts he found, where he stayed, and how Seta has been. After all was said and all the girl's eager questions were answered, the crowd dispersed. Everyone had things to do and places to go. Keitaro and Motoko left the lobby last and walked up the stairs together.

A few moments before that, Kitsune, who dispersed with the rest of the group, ran up to her room with her bottle of Kyoto Sake. Sliding her door shut behind her, she took a moment to admire the bottle's label. The label's design was very traditional. It was all white and in the old style brush stroke Kanji. It read

Bi-shojo Sake Kyoto 

Kitsune then cheerfully trotted over to her liquor shelves and placed it on the shelf which held all of her other brands of Sake. For a moment she heard Keitaro's and Motoko's voices pass by outside her door.

'Hmm, they must be headin' for the balcony.' She thought, her attention being distracted by them for a moment. After their voices faded, she looked back at the fine bottle of Sake.

'It was nice of Keitaro to get me a bottle of the good stuff. I would have settled for just any old brand. I should thank him properly, next chance I get. He's so kind to me, even though I tease him so much. He's like that to all of us. I think any tenant should be so lucky to have an apartment manager like him. He's even more than that. Over time, it seems that all of us have become one big family.' She gave herself a few quick nods, in congratulation of her own wise observation. Then she looked up at the new bottle of Sake. With a mischievous grin, she grabbed the bottle and said,

"Oh, I can't wait any longer. I'm gonna try it now."

She reached for the bottle and then a few raps came at her door.

"Oh, for heaven's sake." She said, turning around. "It's open! Come on in!" She said, facing the door.

The door opened and in walked Naru. She closed the door behind her and said,

"Kitsune, can you do me a favor?"

"Sure, Naru. What do ya need?" Kitsune said.

Naru turned to the side and said, "I got a run in my last good pair of panti-hose. Can I borrow a couple pairs from you until I can go out and buy some new ones." as she pointed to the run going up her left leg.

"Sure, no problem." Kitsune said, walking over to her dresser drawer.

"Great. Thank you so much, Kitsune." Naru said as she took off her slippers and started pulling down her hosery.

"Hmm, now I think I have some extra pair in this drawer that might fit you. You're a size smaller than I am." Kitsune said, looking through the drawer. "Ah, here they are!" Kitsune then handed Naru a few pair of black stockings.

"Thanks, Kitsune. You're a lifesaver. It's so embarrassing, walking around with a big run like that." Naru said, rolling one of the pairs up her legs. "You know, I'm glad Keitaro made it back safely. I had a feeling that something bad might happen to him." She said.

"Ya don't say. Yeah, I'm glad to see him back alright too. It's just not the same around here with out him, you know?" Kitsune said, her Osaka accent showing through.

"Yeah." Naru said with a smile.

Keitaro and Motoko, just passing Kitsune's room, talked together as they walked down the hallways of the second floor.

"So tell me, did you have any fun while you were there?" Motoko asked as they walked along.

"Yeah, I did. Seta and I went to this nice bar for a few nights. We didn't have enough drinks to get too drunk, but we had a really good time. Seta can be quite a riot after he gets a few drinks in him." Keitaro said.

"I'm glad things went great while you were there. Thank you again for the Kendo Uniform. My old one was getting so worn." She said, while still holding it under her left arm.

"No problem. Besides, I can't have my beautiful Motoko not looking her best during a battle, can I?" he said with a smile.

She gave a flattered laugh and said, "Oh, I love you, Keitaro." Then wrapping her arm around his.

"I love you too." He said, giving her a quick kiss.

Once more they found their way out onto the terrace they love so much that overlooked the back courtyard. They stood together and silently admired the vast nature surrounding the apartments. Then Keitaro looked at Motoko with a pleasant smile, as if becoming lost in the serene features of her face. Motoko noticed this. She turned to him and with a smile, she tilted her head in a cute way.

"What? What is it?" She said.

"How did I end up with a beautiful, incredible girl like you? I mean, did I actually do something right in the last life? Did God give me a free happiness coupon?" He said, still gazing into her soft brown eyes.

Slowly she walked up, slid her hands up his chest and over his shoulders and moved her arms around his neck. Their noses were centimeters apart. Their warm breath was felt on each other's lips as they looked into each other's eyes. Then Motoko said softly, "Well, let's just say you sort fell into it…" She moved her hand up his neck and ran her fingers through his soft hair. She moved his head closer and kissed him deeply for a moment. Then she broke the kiss and said with a teasing smile, "…and hit your head on the way down."

They both shared a laugh. Then Keitaro said,

"So what are you doing now? Did you have anything planned for this afternoon?" he said, moving back and letting his hands slide down to the sides of her hips.

"Well, I was planning on practicing my sword swings for an hour. After that, a dip in the bath. Then, I don't really have any plans." She said.

"Oh, I'll practice with you." He said. "I need to catch up on my practice anyway. All I've been doing for the past two weeks is swinging a pick-ax."

"Okay, come walk with me then. We can go get our swords." She said, taking his hand and leading him back into the main house.

They walked down the hallway towards Keitaro's room to get his sword first. As they walked, Keitaro suddenly felt lightheaded and dizzy, causing him to stop and lay a hand on the wall next to him for balance. Worried, Motoko quickly turned and said,

"Keitaro? Are you alright?"

"Oh, I'm fine. It's just…" He then collapsed on the floor.

Motoko's heart skipped a beat when she saw this.

"Keitaro!" she yelled as she fell to her knees and lifted him up in her arms. Keitaro's half opened eyes wandered the area around them, as if not able to focus on anything.

"Keitaro! Keitaro, speak to me! Can you hear me?" She said, shaking him lightly.

Slowly, his eyes regained focus and then fixed on Motoko.

"Motoko. I'm sorry. I don't know what happened." He said, weakly.

"I think you should lie down for a while. You don't look good at all." She said, noticing how pale he'd become.

She helped him up off the floor, holding his arm around her shoulder.

"But, I need to practice-"

"Forget about practice! I want you to lie down, right now." She said, helping him into his room.

Keitaro was sat down at his desk. Motoko found his futon and set it out for him on the floor. Then, holding him to keep him steady just in case, she laid him down on the futon. She knelt down beside him and said,

"Do you still feel dizzy?"

"Yeah." He said.

She moved the hair back from his forehead and felt his temperature.

"Well, you don't feel warm. If anything, you feel a little cool." Motoko said. She then found a thin blanket and pulled it over him up to his neck.

"You can go ahead and practice. I'll be fine." He said.

"No. I want to stay here with you." She said, showing him a tender smile.

"Okay." He said with a relaxing sigh. "Oh! My bags, they're still in the lobby."

"I'll get them for you later. Close your eyes. Rest now, sweetheart. I'll be right here. If there's anything else you want, anything at all. Let me know." She said, touching her hand to his cheek.

Keitaro closed his eyes and fell asleep. Motoko leaned over and kissed his forehead. Then she stood up, took his desk chair, set it next to his futon and sat down. She sat there patiently, lovingly. Like a guardian angel.

'I wonder what could have happened back there. He was perfectly fine up until a few moments ago. Maybe the trip was a bit harder on him than I thought.'

In the back room of the Hinata Tea House, we find Haruka, sitting at a table with the book Seta asked Keitaro to give to her. The blank-covered, black bound book was actually originally hers. It was her journal from when she was still a student at Tokyo U. She took it with her, back when she had went on an archeology dig with Seta in Kyoto so long ago. She opened the book to the first page. In her hand, it read,

'Haruka's Dig Journal'

Underneath it, in the lower right corner of the page, was something written in Seta's unmistakable writing.

'_This is something that you forgot. I hope you didn't forget that warm, June night we spent together. I miss you, my dearest Haruka. I hope someday soon, we can get together and remember those wonderful times. Eternally yours, Seta_.'

Then she reached over to the small bookshelf on the wall and pulled out a photo album. She laid it on the table and began to look through it. She came to a page containing several photos of Seta and she in their younger days. She looked close at one photo of them in front of Kyoto Tower. Her hand was placed on his chest as his arm was around her waist. Haruka looked at his happy-go-lucky smile and the easy look in his eyes. She formed a pleasant smile as she looked into those eyes. Slowly she ran her fingers over his image, almost longingly.

She exhaled a slow breath and quietly said "Oh, Noriyasu." She closed the book and held it to her chest. "Someday. Yes…I want us to. But…"

She hung her head down. In the light from the small window, you could almost see a sparkle, as of a tear, slowly running down her cheek.


	4. Kawaru

Here is chapter 4. To all who have been reading and sending their reviews so far. Domo Arigato Gozaimasu! I deeply appreciate it. So the story continues to unfold. Keitaro is definitely under some strange affliction. I basically wrote this entire chapter while listening to nothing but Filter's 'Title of Record' CD. Strange, yes I know. Anyway, enough of my yammering. I hope you enjoy this chapter and let me know what you think so far. Love Hina is owned and created by Ken Akamatsu. Enjoy!

You Have Me

Chapter 4

Keitaro awoke from a dreamless sleep. His head was facing toward the window. Taking in a few deep breaths, he watched the outside world for a moment. The sun had already set long ago. By the moonlight, he could see the swaying of the trees in the cold September wind. He could hear the soft distant hiss as the leaves rubbed against eachother. The days may still be warm, but the nights become so chilled this time of year. Reminding us that winter is not far off. He realized this as the breeze flowed in through the open window, causing goose-bumps to form on his skin.

The sound of a woman's quiet breaths drew his attention. He looked up and next to him there was Motoko, sitting in her chair, fast asleep. Her head was tilted down as her hands were folded in her lap. Keitaro smiled at this.

'She watched over me the whole time, didn't she.'

Keitaro sat up and gently rubbed her ankle to rouse her. With a deep breath, she opened her eyes and lifted her head.

"Hey there, sleepy head. You'll get a stiff neck if you sleep like that." Keitaro said to her, quietly.

She looked at him and her features brightened.

"How are you feeling? You gave me a real scare when you collapsed earlier."

Keitaro looked down at his hands. He moved the fingers and closed them forming a fist and then opened them again.

"Actually, I feel great. That nap must have been just what I needed, because I feel like I just got a super-charge." He then hopped out of his futon and started walking around his room.

She stood up from her chair and said, "Keitaro, you shouldn't get up so quickly. It's-"

"I feel incredible, Motoko! I've never felt this good." He said smiling, becoming more and more excited. "I feel like I can run a hundred mile marathon and still do a two hour sword practice!"

"That's all well and good I suppose, but maybe you should just sit down for a while and-"

"Oh, that's right!" He said, interrupting her again. "I found something while I was on the Dig that I wanted to show you. Wait right there!"

"But Keitaro!" she said, but he was already out the door, heading for the lobby. With a sigh, she simply sat back down and waited.

After a short minute, she heard the thumping of his stomping feet coming back down the hallway. In Keitaro came with all his bags. He plopped them down next to Motoko and then opened his small suitcase. On top of his folded clothes was the knife, which he had cleaned off the best he could while still in Kyoto. Keitaro took it out and said, "Here, Motoko. Take a look." as he handed it to her.

"Wow, what a splendid traditional knife, Keitaro. A little worse for ware, but it might make a good display item." She said, looking at it.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." He said, kneeling next to her and looking at it with her.

With a little effort, she removed it from the cover and looked at the blade.

"The blade is in pretty bad shape, though." As she said that, she began to feel uncomfortable holding it.

"Well, I figured if I kept the cover on, it would still look good on display." He said.

The longer she held it in her hands, the more she felt as if it were bearing some burdensome weight on her very soul, carrying with it a weak sense of danger. She had to get it away from her. Quickly she sheathed it and handed it to Keitaro.

"Please! Take it away from me!" she said.

Keitaro took the knife from her trembling hand and looked at her curiously.

"What? What's wrong, Motoko?" he said, laying the knife at his side, opposite of Motoko.

"I…I just don't like it. I get a horrible feeling from that knife, Keitaro. I think you should get rid of it." She said, taking his hand with a pleading look in her eyes. She was obviously shaken by it. She realized that she both hated and feared it at the same time.

"What do you mean, Motoko? I never felt anything from it."

"I just get a bad feeling from it. Please, get rid of it, Keitaro." She said, sounding ever more apprehensive of it.

Keitaro laughed in dismissal of her warnings.

"Motoko, I'm not just going to throw away a valuable artifact. You're being ridiculous."

"Please!" she started. Keitaro then stood up.

"The answer is no, Motoko!" he yelled with an authoritative wave of his hand. The look of anger flooded into his face.

Motoko was taken back by this. Keitaro had never raised his voice to her before. Nor had he ever lost his temper. Keitaro saw the shocked look on her face and immediately realized he made a mistake.

"I…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell." He said.

An awkward silence passed between them.

"Listen, how about this. I'll just put it in the basement storage room. How does that sound?" He said, softly, showing her an apologetic smile.

"O-Okay." She said, still a little shaken by his earlier words.

"That way, you won't even have to be near it." He said, slowly reaching out.

He gently took her by the hands and helped her to her feet. She looked slightly away from him, avoiding eye contact, still a little uneasy. She looked as if she were holding back tears. Keitaro saw this and took her in his arms, holding her close as she yielded to his embrace.

"I'm sorry, Motoko. I didn't mean to yell at you. It won't ever happen again."

All she could say was, "Okay." As she laid the side of her face on his shoulder.

After a while of holding her in this tender way, he slowly drew back and said,

"Hey, we haven't been to the shopping district in a while. How about we go there tomorrow? We could window-shop like we used to. Would you like that?" he said.

Bringing herself to smile as she looked in his eyes, she said, "I would like that."

"It's settled then. Tomorrow it is." He said. They shared a kiss and then left the room together, leaving the knife on the floor.

Early the next morning…

"What did you say? Keitaro collapsed!" Naru said, as she sat at the dining room table, having a cup of tea with Motoko.

"Yes. He seemed fine enough when we left the balcony, but then he felt weak and collapsed right in the hallway." Motoko said.

"I see. So that's why neither of you showed up for dinner. How is he now?" Naru asked, anxiously.

"He's fine now. He's upstairs, still sleeping. It's strange. When he woke up last night, he had so much energy. It's as if his dizzy spell never even happened." Motoko said, looking off as she ran through the event in her head. Then she remembered his angry outburst, causing an obvious change in her demeanor.

"Is something wrong, Motoko?" Naru asked.

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing." Motoko said.

Motoko finished off the last of her tea. She set the cup down and stared at it for a moment. She still could not forget the look in his eyes. The fiery anger, the lack of emotional restraint. She felt as if for that one short moment, he was a completely different person.

The sudden silence made Naru uncomfortable.

"Motoko?" Naru said, snapping Motoko out of her daze.

"Huh? Oh, sorry Naru."

"Are you sure there's nothing wrong?" Naru said carefully, reaching out and touching Motoko's shoulder.

Motoko simply shook her head and said, "No, everything is fine."

"Because if there were something wrong, you can talk to me anytime."

"I know, Naru. Thank you."

Motoko stood up from the table and said,

"Well, I'd better start my practice. It's already 6:30am."

"Do you have any plans for today, Motoko?" Naru said, standing as well.

"It being Saturday, Keitaro and I don't have any classes. So we're heading to the shopping district later. Did you need anything while we're there?"

"No thanks. I'm good." Naru said.

They both walked into the kitchen, put their cups by the sink and then walked up the stairs together. Naru was on her way to her room to study as Motoko was off to hers to get her sword for practice. As Motoko and Naru passed Keitaro's room on the second floor, Motoko stopped and said,

"I'll see you later, Naru."

"Okay, I'll to you talk later, Motoko."

Motoko gave a few quiet knocks to Keitaro's door and entered his room to see how he was doing. She gently closed the door behind her and walked towards Keitaro who, was still sleeping on his futon.

'I won't bother him with practice today. I'll let him sleep. He probably needs it.'

Then she looked over along the floor and saw the knife still lying there. It gave her chills, even to look at it.

'Hopefully he'll put that thing in storage today. It would be such a mood-killer.'

Then she noticed the writing on its side. She knelt down and looked at the knife closer without touching it.

'I never noticed this before.' Then she noticed the name inscribed there.

"Ichiro Akume…Why does that name sound familiar?" She said out loud.

She pondered it for a moment and was then distracted by Keitaro rustling in his futon. She stood up, walked back to the door and thought,

'Maybe it's nothing.'

Then she looked at Keitaro's still sleeping form.

'Sweet dreams, my love.'

Motoko walked out into the back courtyard with her sword. She tied a band around her forehead and started doing her warm-up stretches. As she did this, she became aware of the sound of footsteps moving over the short grass from behind her. They were coming towards her. She turned and there was Keitaro with his sword in hand. With a smile he said,

"Didn't I tell you I wanted to catch up on practice. You should have woke me up."

"Well, you looked so cute sleeping, I didn't have the heart to." She said, teasingly.

"Did I, now?" he said, walking up and giving her a kiss.

They took their positions, finding their proper stances. Motoko formed a devious smile and said,

"Are you ready for this, Keitaro? Because I won't go easy on you."

"That's exactly what I want. My body feels restless. I need to release this energy boiling inside me." He said, lifting his sword and slicing it through the air at the word 'release'.

"Very well." She said.

Holding their swords in the proper form, they faced eachother. Still like statues, they read eachother for a moment, trying to anticipate the other's first move. Motoko narrowed her eyes, then yelled,

"HAJIMERU!"

At this, they both dashed forward as fast as they could. Motoko then leapt into the air.

"Wind force blade, Second form!" she yelled as she created a powerful wind that blasted toward Keitaro.

Keitaro jumped up and said,

"Silver Dragon Counter Technique!"

He swung his sword upward, creating a powerful force that dispersed the wind as he flew through it. Their swords met, connecting with strike after strike of metal on metal. The nature around them seemed to shudder and sway in reaction to their fighting as they continued to perform their lightning fast movements in midair. They both gave their best, bringing forth all of their knowledge of the sword.

Motoko pushed him back with a forward counter and landed on her feet. Keitaro touched down as well. Motoko took a moment to catch her breath. They were both smiling. They were enjoying this to the fullest.

"Not bad, Keitaro." She said, still breathing heavily.

Keitaro, who was not even winded, said, "Yeah. I don't know what this feeling is, but I like it."

"Then I hope you'll like _this_ as well!" Motoko dashed at him, almost faster than the eye could see. Keitaro's body then floated up into the air, giving off a powerful wind force in all directions, knocking Motoko back. Keitaro, with the blank look now returned to his eyes, raised his sword high and yelled,

"Kuroi Tsubasa Ken, Nikatachi!"

The blade of his sword turned black as onyx. He swung it down, sending a powerful dark wave for Motoko.

She barely dodged the wave in time as it crashed into the ground next to her, sending rocks and dirt flying everywhere. When the dust cleared, she saw Keitaro still floating in the air. His blank stare gave him the look as if he were transfixed. After a short moment, the glassy fog disappeared from his eyes and he slowly descended to the ground.

Keitaro, feeling a little woosy, sat down on the ground. Motoko dropped her sword and ran to him. Holding him steady, she said,

"Keitaro! Keitaro, are you alright!"

Keitaro looked up at her as if just coming to his senses.

"Oh…Motoko. I'm sorry, I must have blacked out."

"Keitaro, where did you learn that technique! You were hovering in the air, Keitaro!"

"Huh? What are you talking about, Motoko? What technique? Wait, I was hovering?" He said.

Motoko helped him up and said,

"Keitaro, that was the 'Black Wing Blade' technique. That technique was banned by our school, over two centuries ago. And you demonstrated the second form, which none of us even knew existed. Where did you learn it?"

"I honestly don't know, Motoko. I don't even remember doing it." He said, putting his hand to his head as the dizziness slowly dispersed. Then he looked over at the fresh crater in the ground.

"Did I…do that?" he said.

Looking at it as well, she said, "Yes."

They stood silent as they looked over and stared at eachother, puzzled by what had just happened. Then Shinobu's voice called out from behind them.

"Hey, guys! Breakfast is ready!"

As she ran up to them, she noticed the big hole in the ground.

"Oh my goodness! What happened here?"

Motoko put on a pleasant face and said,

"Sorry about that, Shinobu. I guess we sort of got carried away."

"Oh…um, okay. Well, you best hurry before your miso soup gets cold. I'll see you inside, okay?" Shinobu smiled uneasily as she stepped backwards. She then bowed and ran on into the house.

Keitaro watched Shinobu go back into the house. Then he turned back to Motoko.

"This is starting to worry me, Motoko. I blacked out in Kyoto, too, while I was on the Dig." He said.

Motoko held him close. Keitaro then put his arms around her.

"Don't worry, Anata. We'll figure this out." She said softly.

Later that day…

Having just returned from their afternoon at the shopping district, they decided to just relax for while in a soothing bath. They enjoyed themselves very much and purchased a few items here and there.

Motoko sat on the side of the hot spring waters. With a peaceful smile, she slowly poured the hot water over her shoulder, letting it flow down the smooth fair skin of her naked body. A cooling rush quickly replaced the hot feeling of the flowing water, as the wind flowed gracefully around her.

Up in the men's bath area, Keitaro sat in his circular, wooden bath. He exhaled, blowing the rising steam from the hot water. He gathered some water in his hands and splashed it onto his face. After a while, he rose out of the waters and walked over to the mirror on the wall. He wiped the glass so he could see his image clearly. He reached for his glasses, but then he realized that he could see his reflection clearly without the glasses.

'Well, that's strange.' He thought, raising an eyebrow.

Then he looked closely at his image. He looked at his hair, which was still wet and not going in any specific direction. "Hmm." He said, looking at his dark brown hair. He picked up a comb and started slicking it back. After all the hair was set straight back from his square hairline, he gave himself a nod and said, "Yup. I like it."

A little later, Motoko, dried and dressed, walked down the hallway towards Keitaro's room. She noticed his door was open and as she drew closer, she heard heavy breathing inside his room. She walked in to see Keitaro working out. He was lifting a barbell, doing bicep curls. There were 20 lb. weights fastened to each end of the barbell. He wore no shirt, showing the movements of his contracting and relaxing muscles throughout his arms, shoulders and upper chest. He gave quick exhaling breaths with each successful curl. Motoko was of course, astonished by this sight. She started to form a slight blush in her cheeks as she looked upon his bare chest on which tiny beads of sweat formed and clung. He noticed her and then put down the barbell.

"Keitaro, have you started working out?" she said, walking up to him and looking at his arms.

"Yeah, I found this weight set in storage when I put the knife away down there. I figured it would be good to keep in shape." He said.

"Of course you realize, if you were out of shape, I would love you just that same." She cracked a smile. "I would just take more pleasure kicking your butt in our kendo matches."

"Well lets hope I never get out of shape, huh?"

"Then again, at that point, I might start dating Kentaro, insteaaaaad." She said, looking up innocently.

"Oooh, you're teasing me now, huh?" He said, taking her in his arms with a smile.

"Uh, huh." She said with a nod as their lips drew closer.

Motoko was a little surprised by his boldness. At the force he used to kiss her and the fact that he moved his hand over the small of her back and held her pelvis close to his. This tantalized her. Her heart began to quicken. Her cheeks began to burn as they became flushed. Not that she wouldn't usually welcome Keitaro's affection, but she became uncomfortable and pulled back from his deep kiss.

She quickly started a conversation to divert his attention away from the awkwardness she just created.

"Your glasses, Keitaro. Can you see okay without them?"

"Huh? Oh, that. Well, for some strange reason, I haven't needed them since earlier." He said.

"But you had a strong prescription. Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah, I can see fine."

"Your hair is different too." She said looking at his slicked back hair, held in place by non-fragrant hair gel.

"Oh, you like it? I found some gel."

"It certainly is different. I think I do like it. It reveals your face better. I like the way it accents your cheek-bones. And without your glasses, it brings more attention to your nice eyes."

"So it's a nice change, then?"

"Yeah. I don't mind it. Although, I would like to see the old look once in a while as well."

"Okay, then. Anything for you, my sweet." He said in a deep voice, imitating a Clark Gable-esk tone.

She laughed delightfully at this and twirled away from his grasp.

"Okay, Casanova. Shinobu will have dinner ready any minute. We should start heading downstairs." She said.

"Alright, I'll meet you down there. I'll just throw a shirt on."

"See you in a little bit, Anata." She said, giving him a quick kiss after he slipped on a black shirt.

Then she turned and left the room. Keitaro leaned down and moved his barbell close to the wall. He stood up. As he stood there, he suddenly felt tingles go up and down his spine, followed by the feeling of the muscles in his arms contracting uncontrollably. A haze covered his vision for a moment. Unable to control it, his balled fist thrust out in front of him. He heard something crumble.

His vision cleared and what he saw shocked him. His hand went straight through his solid, one-foot-thick plaster wall up to his mid-forearm. He carefully pulled it out and looked at his hand. He opened and closed it and then moved his wrist. He felt the bones with his other hand. Nothing was broken. The skin showed not a scratch.

He held his hand out in front of him and stared at it.

"What the hell is happening to me?"


	5. The Fading Light

I guess I'm really getting back to my angst roots from Fictionpress on this story. My penname is 'The negotiator' on that site, by the way. Anyway, I really hope you enjoy this chapter and please let me know what you think, seeing as I'm leaping into new territory with the storyline. Love Hina is owned and created by Ken Akamatsu.

You Have Me

Chapter 5

Keitaro awoke at 10am. He didn't get much sleep the night before, on account of his heart constantly speeding up and slowing down. Something unknown was flowing through him, causing a strong reaction that seemed to come and go. He was finally able to fall into steady sleep at 4am. It was around then that his body seemed to calm down enough for him to lose consciousness.

But while it was happening, Keitaro was scared. The uneven beating of his heart frightened him so deeply, he wondered if he would even last the night. He feared his fast beating heart would finally give out and stop. He did wake up, though, on this beautiful Sunday morning. And he thanked God that he did. He sat up in his futon and looked at the ray of sunlight pouring in through the crack in the sliding doors that lead out to his small balcony.

Keitaro stood up. He expected to feel weak from last night's bombardment, but he was not. He felt fine. He walked over and opened the sliding doors all the way, allowing all the light to shine in. It hurt his eyes for a few moments. Then his eyes became focused on Kaolla Su dancing about in the yard below with her newly invented Mecha-Tama 9.3 flying circles around her. This sort of sight would usually bring an amused smile to his face, but for some reason, today it did not. He didn't dwell on this realization for very long, reminding himself that there are more important things to be done.

He turned and walked out of the room, leaving his glasses sitting on his desk, which have laid there, untouched since yesterday. He walked down the hallway and into the bathroom. He turned on the faucet and let it run until the water was warm enough. Then he cupped his hands under it and splashed the water on his face, washing away the sweat he had accumulated through the night. He then wetted his hair and slicked it back, as is his new style.

After a change of clothes, he walked down the stairs and ran through the things in his head that he wants to accomplish today. He needed to pick up some repair supplies from the shopping district as well as start those repairs as soon as he gets home.

Motoko walked through the front lobby with her kendo uniform on, having just finished her training out back. Then she noticed Keitaro coming down the steps from the upstairs. A bright smile came over her as she quickly ran over to him.

"Good morning, Sweetheart." She said to him.

Then she noticed how pale he was. It was the type of white a person gains only if they've lived underground for two years. She noticed the icy-purple coloration under his eyes. His eyes themselves, instead of being their usual warm brown, were black, like onyx.

"Did you sleep well, Keitaro? You look terrible."

With an emotionless, narrow-eyed face, he slowly walked by her and said, "No, I didn't."

He stopped at the front door and as he took out his shoes, said, "I didn't sleep well at all. My heart, it…wouldn't stop racing. It was palpitating as well. " He then held his hand on his chest, feeling for his heartbeat, making sure it was still normal.

"My God, are you alright? Maybe we should go see a doctor." She said, going over to him.

"No need. I'm fine now. Besides, there're some things I need to do today. The wall on the second floor has cracks in it. I need to repair it." He said plainly. He kept his eyes down as he put on his shoes.

"Are you sure? Still, just in case, we should-"

"I said I'm fine!"

Motoko stood silent as she looked at him, his voice still ringing in her ears. Keitaro looked up at her and attempted an apologetic response but then turned his head away towards the door and said,

"I'm going out to buy repair supplies. I'll be back later."

She looked down and quietly said, "…alright. Itte irasshai."

"Itte kimasu." He said. Then he walked out and shut the door behind him.

As he descended down the Hinata steps, she thought,

'What was that all about?'

A little later, in the shopping district, the Sunday crowd is at its strongest. People moved to and fro, carrying things they've purchased and keeping their minds on where to shop next. To our right, just up the street, we catch sight of Keitaro, walking out of a supply store with a bucket of plaster mix in his hand and a bag of tools. He looked to his right and then to his left. A music store, a few shops down, caught his eye. 'Well, I do have a little time.' He ducked and weaved through the heavy traffic of busy people, then slipped inside the music store through the automatic sliding doors.

Keitaro slowly walked down the aisles. Hundreds of CDs were displayed around him, ranging from local to foreign, pop to rock. He stopped and looked closely at one CD. He picked it up and turned it around to look at the back cover. 'This looks interesting.' He then carried the CD with him as he continued to look down the rack of music. He stopped at another one, picked it up and looked at it. 'This one looks good too.' He then took them both to the register and purchased them.

Naru walked through the dining room, carrying a soft drink in one hand and was reading a study guide in the other. As she approached the lobby, she heard the front door open and slide close. She walked into the room and saw Keitaro, leaning down and removing his shoes. As he slid his feet into his house shoes, Naru walked up to him and said,

"Hey, Keitaro. I didn't know you went out." She said. Then she looked at the bags. "What did you buy?"

"Just some repair things." He said, quietly, almost mumbling. Not making eye contact.

"Oh, for the wall on the second floor?" she said.

"Yeah, that's the one." He said, walking past her and towards the stairs.

Naru raised her eyebrow as she watched him go by.

'This is certainly a change in behavior.' She thought.

"Well, okay. Anyway, you look pale, Keitaro. Are you alright?" She said.

"Yes, I'm fine." He replied, almost sounding irritated as he started up the steps.

"Alight. I hope we'll see you at lunch. Shinobu is making Tempura." She said.

"Yeah, sure." He said, indifferently as he continued up the stairs.

"What's with him?" she said to herself as she stood there. Then she dismissed it and continued he walk down her original path.

Keitaro sat down in front of the cracked wall next to his door. Unbeknownst to the rest of the residents, on the other side of the wall was the hole he made with his fist. He opened up the bucket of plaster mix, poured some of the power into a smaller bucket and mixed that with water. He enjoyed this silence. For some reason, he didn't want to be around other people right now. It irritated him. He had no idea why.

When the plaster was ready, Keitaro picked up the spreading knife next to him. Taking a scoop with the knife he then raised it to the cracked wall. At that moment, the tingling feeling returned, sending shivers up and down his spine. Only this time was different. Carefully, he applied the plaster to the cracks. His hand began to move faster. He took more plaster. Faster and faster. His eyes widened in amazement as he watched the speed at which he moved.

Within seconds, all the cracks were filled and the plaster smoothed. He looked down at the spreading knife in his hand. "How did I…" he then looked up at his door. He narrowed his eyes as if trying to figure things out in his head. He picked up the small bucket of wet plaster. Keitaro took a deep breath and slowly let it out. He then disappeared from the hallway. His door flew open, seemingly on its own.

Inside the room was Keitaro, staring at the wall. The hole was completely filled over with fresh plaster. Still looking at the fresh plaster, he dropped the knife in the bucket, which was now empty.

"This…is incredible." He said. Without warning, a sharp pain rose in his chest, followed by a fast and heavy heartbeat. The pain brought him to his knees as he groaned and grasped his chest.

"Aaah. What is this?" he said weakly as he trembled. He fell over on his side and rolled onto his back. "Maybe I pushed my body too hard."

His fast and heavy heartbeat slowly subsided and the pain faded. He cautiously stood up and took a deep breath. He held his hands out in front of him and looked at them. The trembling in them started to recede.

"I have to be more careful. I don't know what these new powers are, but they're not unlimited."

Clouds had moved in a little while ago, making the skies overcast with light grays. It looked as if silver had been evaporated, filling the skies with its dark metallic hue. Motoko leaned over the rail of the large balcony that looked over the back courtyard. A troubled look was on her face as she slowly rotated the diamond ring on her finger. She was worried about Keitaro. She wanted to talk to him, she wanted to be near him, but she was afraid that she would just set off his temper again. She knows this isn't like him. Something has got to be wrong here, but she doesn't know what. What was wrong with him in the lobby this morning? She wanted to help him, but he just pushed her away. Why?

Next to her was the sound of laundry blowing in the wind. She looked and saw that it was Keitaro's shirts and pants hanging there. She looked back to the courtyard and let out a sigh of frustration as she continued to try and figure out what the problem was and why it came so suddenly. It was only yesterday that they were still sharing affections. What's happened now?

The wind had picked up and moved her hair just a little. Motoko turned and moved her fingers back through her long black hair, letting it fall down again from her shoulders down to her lower back. She looked at the house for a moment and then lowered her eyebrows.

'I will find out what's wrong. I will not give up on us, Keitaro.'

Motoko then walked down the wooden steps and into the house.

Motoko stopped at Keitaro's closed door. She looked at it for a few moments. Then with a deep breath, she gave a knock and opened the door. "Keitaro? Are you here?" She looked around and saw that he was not. Then she looked over on his dresser and saw the Knife displayed there. She walked over to it and took a closer look at it. There was not a speck of dirt on it. The lacquer gloss was completely restored. She reached out, picked up the Knife and held it in her hands.

To her surprise, she didn't get the uncomfortable feeling she had experienced before. She unsheathed it and was shocked to see the blade's condition. It shined and was without a single scratch.

"Keitaro couldn't have restored this on his own, and it's only been a couple days, so he couldn't have taken it to a restoration specialist. It would have taken them weeks to do this kind of work."

She turned the blade over and noticed the writing etched in the wood of the sheath. The Kanji was red, deeply engraved and clear. But it was in such an old dialect, that she could barely make it out.

"Holder…beware. Forbidden…something…contained herein. Spirit…something…Ichiro Akume." She said, out loud. As she held it, she slowly came to a realization.

'You know…Keitaro's abrupt change in behavior started around the same time he brought this knife home. There's got to be a connection. Grandma is very knowledgeable in the old tongues. I'm sure she can decipher this writing. It's just a matter of getting it from Keitaro without upsetting him. In light of his recent behavior, who knows how he'll react.'

She set the Knife back on its pedestal and quietly left Keitaro's room.

Night came. The clouds had cleared away and the full moon was high in the sky, casting its pale blue glow over the land. A cold breeze came from the North-East. Motoko found herself out on the balcony again, in the same way as earlier. The constant breeze gave her a slight chill every now and then. The same worried look was on her face as she looked across the dark courtyard and at the treetops, which seemed to gleam with the moon's soft light. Behind her, she heard footsteps. It was Keitaro. He gave her a glance and then walked over to the clothesline. One by one he started taking down his clothes and dropping them in a basket he had brought with him.

Motoko looked at him. He hadn't shown up for dinner tonight, which caused a little worry among Shinobu and the others. She looked up at the moon and then back at him. Motoko quickly walked over to him. Gently taking his hand, she said,

"Keitaro?"

He looked at her indifferently and said, "Yes? What is it?"

"Could you come over here and stand with me for a moment?" She said, showing him a smile as she pulled him over to the spot by the railing where she had been standing.

She then looked up at the moon. "Look at the moon, Keitaro." She said with a pleasant smile.

Keitaro did as she asked. He looked at it for a moment. Then slowly moved his eyes back to her, as if wondering what she was getting at.

Motoko looked at him with a tender smile and slowly gave his hand a few loving rubs.

"Anata…doesn't this remind you of a special time?" she asked, looking into his eyes.

Keitaro looked at her curiously. He looked back up at the moon and then back at her.

"What are you talking about?" he said.

Motoko felt a tug at her heartstrings as her smile slowly faded.

"Don't…don't you…remember?" She said, unable to believe what she just heard.

"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, Motoko." He then pulled his hand from hers and walked away from her.

The look of aching was in her eyes as she watched him go and pick up his basket.

"I'm tired. I'm going to bed now." He said, before starting down the stairs.

Motoko turned away from him and raised her hand to her face as the tears started to roll down her cheeks. Her vision became blurred with the flowing of more tears.

"Have you forgotten?" she whispered. "Have you forgotten…me?"

She continued to cry tears of angst as she stood there in the pale moonlight. All alone.


	6. The Fallen Darkness

Keitaro's condition gets worse by the day, but what is really wrong with him? What's really causing this change in him? I know the series has reached a very dark point and will only get worse, but I hope you'll stay with me on this and give your comments as I continue to tell this tale. Love Hina is owned and created by Ken Akamatsu.

You Have Me

Chapter 6

The next day, beyond the back courtyard, among the trees stood Keitaro. It was late morning with the sun shining brightly from a cloudless sky. He wore nothing but pair of black sweatpants. The steady wind that blew against his chest was cool, but not unpleasant to him. The brushing of the grass under his bare feet gave him a feeling of stability as he practiced his martial arts. His movements were fluid and fast. He couldn't say what school of style it was. The techniques that he brought forth were not of that taught at Motoko's family dojo, neither were they that of Seta's teachings. The movements just came to him and he demonstrated them with perfect form.

As he continued to practice, Naru came running up to him from the house, having noticed him from a second floor window a few minutes before.

"Hey, Keitaro! I need to tell you, the lights in the first floor bathroom aren't working again."

"I'll get to it later." He said, never ceasing his continuous movements.

"Aren't you cold out here? Anyways. So, what are you doing home? Don't you have classes today? Oh, and by the way, why weren't you at dinner last night?" She asked in kind as she watched him.

"You ask too many questions. Hey, I know. How about a question for _you_? Why don't you go pester somebody else?" He said.

Naru almost couldn't believe what she had just heard. She stood there, stunned at his tone of utter disdain towards her.

Then, it didn't take long before she completely erupted.

"Well, Fine! Excuse me for caring! Jerk!"

She turned around and stormed back towards the house. As she walked through the door, she said,

"What an asshole!" loud enough so he could hear it.

Keitaro watched her with apathetic eyes until she was gone.

"Such an irritating girl." He said with a look of disgust. He then looked at the five trees closest to him and formed a devilish grin.

He jumped up into the air. His form became transparent as his movements were almost too fast for the eye to see. All you could see was a blur bouncing from one tree to the next. The five tree trunks split, sending pieces of wood flying in all directions. Keitaro landed back on his feet. The five broken trees fell down and away from him. He stood still for a few moments, listening for his heartbeat. It was the strong and steady beat of a world-class marathon runner. No pain came. Keitaro gave a quick laugh.

"Good, my body is finally getting used to this."

Motoko came home from her day at school. The long hand of the clock hanging on the lobby wall, just hit 3:05pm. In her hand was her briefcase, containing her textbooks. Senior year in high school does not give an easy workload. The amount of books in her case showed this. Her eyes were a little reddened, having cried all night long. She took off her shoes and walked into the lobby. She stopped and took a moment to let down her hair from the ribbon it had been up in all day. As she did this, she looked over and saw Kitsune sitting there on the couch, reading a copy of Tokyo Monthly. She peaked up from her magazine and said,

"Hey, Motoko. How was your day at school?"

"It was alright." Motoko said, sounding drained as she placed the ribbon in her pocket.

Kitsune opened her eyes a little wider as she started to speak with seriousness.

"You know, Keitaro hasn't been acting like himself lately, has he? He just walks by us as if he's too busy to talk to us. Plus, Naru said she and him had a run-in this morning."

"Really? What happened?" Motoko asked, now deeply concerned.

"Don't know. Naru was too angry to say anything else." Kitsune said with a shrug. She then started to rub her chin. "I wonder if something is seriously wrong with him."

Motoko looked at her and then up at the stairs.

"Honestly, Kitsune, that's what I'd like to know." She said, her features now hardened. "I'll talk to you later, Kitsune." Motoko started up the stairs.

"Alright. See ya later, sugah."

Motoko walked steadily up the stairs to the second floor. Keitaro's door was open and loud music was coming from the inside. She walked up next to the door and paused. She set down her briefcase, straightened her clothes, and walked in. Inside, she saw Keitaro lifting weights as she saw him before. Only this time, 50 lb. weights were fastened to both ends of the barbell. She looked at him silently for a moment, to which he seemed to ignore her.

She walked over to his stereo and turned the music down. He looked to the stereo and then to her as if to say, 'what do you want?' He then put down the barbell and folded his arms as he looked at her, waiting for her to speak.

She glanced at the two CDs sitting on the stereo. One read 'Rammstein' and the one on top of it read 'KMFDM'. She started carefully, with light conversation.

"I…didn't know you listened to German music, Keitaro. I didn't know you listened to music at all."

"Yeah, it's been gaining my interest lately." He said, looking away, seemingly growing more irritated.

"It sounds kind of…harsh, doesn't it? I mean, with those rasping electric guitars and heavy beats playing. Not to mention those weird electronic noises. And that singing sounds more like screaming." She said.

"Actually, I think it sounds beautiful." He said, still not making eye contact.

"Oh…okay. Well…listen, Keitaro. We have to talk. It's about your behavior. You've been…acting so cold to me lately." Her voice started to crack with held back tears. "You…you don't even say you love me anymore. I am to be your wife, Keitaro. Have you forgotten that? And these black outs and irregular heartbeats and sudden destructive bursts of energy. It's almost as if you've been cursed. Do you know how much you worry m-"

"Cursed!" He yelled up starting, throwing her a dangerous gaze. "I have not been cursed! I have been blessed! I am now stronger and faster than any man on earth!"

"But Keitaro! I only-"

He turned away from her and faced the door.

"It's getting stuffy in here. I'm going out to get some air." He then walked out and slammed the door behind him causing her to flinch.

She slowly fell to her knees and broke down into tears.

'Why? Why are you doing this? Don't you know how much this is killing me inside? You made a promise to me, Keitaro. You promised to be my husband, just as I promised to be your wife.'

The tears continued to drop and gather on the floor. Then she looked up at the Knife, which was still on its display. The sight of it only caused her more pain. She had to get out of there. She had to leave.

Motoko threw open his door and ran out into the hallway. She knew of only one place left she could go. The one person left that she could turn to.

Naru sat alone in her room, going over her college Chemistry assignments. She had almost filled an entire page in her notebook, writing down a process for separating and reducing HydroCarbon molecules. Setting down her pencil for a moment, she leaned back from the table and took a deep breath in order to regain her focus.

Suddenly, an urgent knock came rapping at her door. She quickly stood up from her table and opened the door to see what the matter was. Her eyes beheld Motoko who, was a wreck with tears streaming down her face.

"Oh my god. Motoko, what happened?"

"I need…I need to talk to someone, Naru." She said, choking through the tears.

"Well, come in, come in."

Naru helped her sit down at her table, ran to the doorway, looked up and down the hall and shut the door, locking it. She sat down next to Motoko and took her hands in hers.

"Now take a couple breaths and tell me what happened, sweetie." Naru said, being as comforting as she possibly can.

Motoko breathed in and slowly let it out. She repeated this several times until she could talk clearly. She then told Naru about everything. About the first changes in Keitaro's behavior, and how he moved from so close to so far away.

One story down, Shinobu walked up the stairs with a pleasant smile. She has been thinking hard on an important issue for the past few days and has finally come to a decision. As she reached the 2nd floor hallway, she walked hurriedly toward Keitaro's room.

'I've made up my mind. I'm going to tell him how I feel. I haven't seen him in so long, though. He hasn't shown up to any of my meals in almost two days. I hope he's alright.'

Shinobu reached Keitaro's open door and looked inside.

"Keitaro?"

She looked around. No one was in the room. A song was playing on the stereo at mid to low volume. The sound of the voice that sang the foreign lyrics disturbed her. It had a dark and malicious tone as it was set against the foreboding electronic melody.

'_Und wenn ich also sterben muss. So will ich erblinden durch deine braunen augen_.'

It made her cringe. 'I don't know what he's saying and sure as heck, I don't want to know.'

She turned around to walk out of the room and was startled to see Keitaro's bare chest an inch from her face.

"Oh! Keitaro, there you are. You frightened me. Please don't sneak up on me like that." She said, quickly stepping back.

"Sure." He said indifferently as he walked past her into the room.

Her eyes followed him. She felt a sense of awe as her wide eyes took in all the changes Keitaro had made to his appearance. The dark brown hair slicked back on his head almost seeming black in the light, his face free of his bulky glasses, the definition of his exposed muscles enhanced by the shine of the sweat that clung to them. She almost didn't recognize him. Her stare became fixed on his chest muscles. The way they flexed and relaxed with his subtle movements. Her cheeks began to burn as the deep blush flowed to her face. In her mind, a vision of one of her secret fantasies came back to her.

"Well? Did you want something?" Keitaro said, looking at her with a raised eyebrow.

This snapped her out of her frozen expression.

"Oh! Sorry. Um, yes. There is something I want to tell you, Senpai."

She paused as she tried to remember the words she made herself memorize in her head.

"Well, what is it?" Keitaro said, growing impatient.

Shinobu gave a swallow, keeping her shy nervousness at bay. She then looked up at Keitaro with loving eyes and a sweet smile.

"Keitaro…I'm in love with you. I have been ever since you first came into my life. I don't expect you to return my feelings, knowing how you feel about Motoko. I just wanted to tell you how I feel. Besides, who knows? Maybe someday…I don't know…we might-"

"We might what?" He said with a laugh, cutting her off. " 'Someday'? What makes you think I would ever be interested in a weak little girl like you?"

Shinobu fell still and silent at the shock of his cruel words. Her sweet smile had instantly disappeared. She then struggled to speak.

"…weak…girl? But, Keitaro…you always said…" Tears began to form in her eyes.

"Why would I even waste my time?" He said.

Shinobu felt as if her gentle heart had been ripped from her chest, thrown down on the floor and stomped on. She could not speak, she could not breathe. All she could do was look upon his cruel, uncaring smile. A smile he showed as if amused at what he had said. A sadistic smile that seemed only to pour more salt on Shinobu's already open and bleeding wound. The tears came forth that she could no longer hold back. She couldn't look at him anymore. She covered her face and ran out of the room.

"What an annoyance." Keitaro said as he turned away from the doorway.

Naru continued to hold Motoko's hands as she poured her heart out to her. Naru held on to them firmly as if fearing that Motoko might completely fall apart if she let go. She had never seen Motoko this vulnerable before. Motoko, the one with such strong will, such unbreakable composure now reduced to this. Every moment, Naru developed more and more anger towards Keitaro for bringing Motoko to this point: A girl in such emotional shambles she could barely talk straight. Naru slowly released Motoko's hands and stood up from the table.

"Motoko, would you like some water?" she asked softly, to which Motoko nodded 'yes'.

Motoko was calm now, having let everything off her chest.

"Okay, you stay right here. I'll go get you some water, okay?" Naru said, lightly touching Motoko's shoulder.

Naru walked out of her room and gently shut the door behind her. She stood there in the hallway for a moment. Her eyes fell to the ground as her fists became clenched. She began to grit her teeth as her body started to shake with her growing rage.

'Damn you, Keitaro. How could you do this? To your fiancé no doubt. The woman you _claim_ to love with all your heart. How could you!'

Naru flew down the stairs. When she got to the hallway of the second floor, she stopped for a moment to see Shinobu run by her with tears in her eyes.

"Shinobu? Shinobu, wait!"

But she was already gone, the sound of her fast footsteps echoing down the stairwell.

Naru went over to Keitaro's room and saw him standing there in the doorway.

"Keitaro, we need to talk." She said, moving right up to his face.

Giving a laugh of dismissal, he stepped past her into the hall.

"It can wait until later." He said, turning to walk away.

Quickly grabbing his arm, she pulled him back and turned him to face her.

"No, we talk now!" She pressed her finger to his chest as she began to unload.

"Just what the hell is your problem, huh! The way you acted to me this morning was completely unlike you. Just where do you get the nerve, the _gall_ to talk to me that way? Then there's Motoko, calming down in my room as we speak who loves you and would dedicate herself to you totally and completely for the rest of her life. And what do you do? You treat her like SHIT! And what was that with Shinobu, just now? Did you say something to her too? God! What has happened to you, Keitaro? Are you on drugs? Have you completely lost all care?"

Naru stopped and took a moment to catch her breath. Keitaro simply looked at her with unfeeling eyes.

"Are you done or are you going to spout out even more pointless banter?" He said, coldly.

That was the last straw for Naru. He had officially struck her last chord.

"Damn it, Keitaro!" She wound up her right arm and thrust her 'Naru punch' right for his face.

To her surprise, with a series of movements so fast that she couldn't comprehend them, Keitaro caught her fist in his right hand. "What the…" she said, looking at it, unbelieving. He then squeezed her fist tightly and twisted it downward, causing immediate and extreme pain in her wrist and shoulder. "AAAAH!" she called out through the terrible pain as she fell to her knees.

"P-Please…stop…you're hurting me, Keitaro!" She pleaded.

He looked down at her.

"How utterly pathetic." He let go of her fist.

With an "Ah!" filled with pain, she fell on her side against the hard wooden floor. She slowly leaned up. All she could do was watch him turn his back on her and walk on down the hall.

"What's happened to you, Keitaro? Can't you see we're all worried for you?"

She carefully got up, favoring her arm, which throbbed with pain. While she did this, Keitaro walked out of the building, into the back courtyard.

Motoko sat quietly, her thoughts now collected and following their logical paths once more. The door opened and in walked Naru, holding her shoulder.

"Naru! What happened?" Motoko said, standing up.

"It was Keitaro. I got angry and went to face him. I lost my temper and tried to punch him, but he caught it and did this to my shoulder. My God, Motoko. It's like he was a completely different person. The way he looked at me with those eyes…" Naru sat down. "I think he's gone for now, but we have to do something, Motoko."

"It's that knife, Naru. It has to be. All this started when he brought that damned thing home. There's a sort of warning inscribed on it, but its such an old text. I can't read all of it. My Grandmother can probably decipher it and give us some answers. I have to take the Knife. I don't care what Keitaro does. That knife could be the only clue we have in bringing him back to the way he was." Motoko started toward the door.

"Be careful, Motoko. He's in such a state, I don't know what he'll do." Naru said.

Motoko looked away for a second, took a deep breath and looked back down at Naru.

"Naru, I'm going to Kyoto. Tell everyone to stay far away from Keitaro until I get back." Motoko said.

Naru simply nodded in response.

Motoko ran down to Keitaro's empty room, took the Knife and looked at it.

'This has got to be the key to all of this.' She turned to walk out and then stopped. She saw Keitaro's glasses sitting there. She picked them up and held them close to her heart.

"I won't give up on you, Keitaro."

She then slid the glasses into the pocket of her school uniform.

Motoko ran down to the lobby, slipped on her shoes and went out the front door. She hurried through the town, her long hair flowing behind her in the wind. A few blocks ahead of her stood the Hinata Train Station.

'I won't give up on you, Anata. I know you're still in there, somewhere. Please wait for me.'


	7. Answers

Here it is guys, Chapter 7. I hope you like it and let me know what you think. I want to thank everyone for their input so far. It means a lot to me. Love Hina is owned and created by Ken Akamatsu. Now, without further adieu…

You Have Me

Chapter 7

Two hours had passed since Keitaro had retreated into the woods behind the property in search of quiet solace. He entered the house with a hardened expression across his features. As he walked down the hallway and up the staircase, he saw no sign of any of the girls. 'Good.' He thought. 'No one to bother me.'

Keitaro slid open the door to his room and stepped inside. He happened to look up at the Knife display and to his great dismay, noticed the Knife was gone.

"What the-?" he said, his lips curling back from his teeth in an angry grimace. He ran over to the dresser, picked up the glass display and looked at it as if still not believing its absent display piece was now gone. He threw it to the floor, shattering it and looked all around him for the Knife. He ran from this place to that in his room, pulling open drawers, overturning furniture and throwing things in all directions as he searched frantically.

"Where is it!" He yelled out, his rage growing more and more by the moment, his frustration becoming ever deeper. He began to pace back and forth, kicking things about as his mind became clouded with more fury. More and more anger flowed through him until his mind could not discern or comprehend the very reality that surrounded him.

Suddenly, the terrible pain returned to Keitaro's chest, worse than ever before. It was such unspeakable pain that he fell to the floor, clutching his chest as he screamed in agony at the top of his lungs. Scream after scream. This flaming torment went on for several minutes, with him writhing on the floor in sharp, penetrating agony. Then he fell silent. His body, still.

A long moment passed and Keitaro started to stir. He slowly rolled over onto his chest and raised himself up on his hands. He looked around curiously as if testing new eyes, as if this was the first time he's seen this new place he was in. Carefully, he stood up. He looked at his hands as if examining them, approving them.

"I see. I am here." He said.

He walked over to the desk and calmly searched through its drawers. "There has to be one here somewhere." He said. Then he found what he had been searching for: A phonebook. While flipping through its pages, he quietly sat down at the desk and leaned back in the chair. He stopped at a page and ran his finger down the listings until it stopped at a single name.

"So, she's still alive, is she? That cursed witch."

Meanwhile, at Kyoto Station, we see Motoko hurriedly step off the train, knife in hand. Wasting no time, she ran through the station and out to the streets. Moments later, climbing up the steps of the apartment building, she rang her grandmother's intercom, impatiently, pressing it again and again. Finally, a voice answered her calls.

"Hello? Who's there?"

"Grandma! It's me! I have to see you right now!"

"Motoko? Is that you? What are you doing here in Kyoto, dear?"

"There's no time to explain! I need to see you!"

"Oh, my. Please, come in."

The electric lock on the door released. Motoko ran inside and up the staircase to the door that was held open by her clearly worried grandmother. Motoko stopped in the middle of the living room. Bent down over her knees, Motoko was flushed, trying to catch her breath. Her grandmother quickly shut and locked the door tight. She hurried over to her breathless granddaughter and held her up by the shoulders.

"Take it easy now, dear. Take deep breaths. Now, tell me what it is that's got you so worked up tonight."

Motoko looked up at her grandmother and held out the Knife to her.

"Please! Tell me what this writing says!"

Megumi Aoyama was frozen in shock as her wide eyes looked at the Knife in front of her.

"M-Motoko, where did you get that Knife! How did you find it?" she said, the sound of fear and apprehension in her voice.

"What? You mean you've seen this before, Grandma?"

"Yes," she said, taking the knife from her granddaughter. "And I'd hoped I would never see it again. That no one would ever find it."

Megumi sat down on her couch, examining the knife. Motoko sat down across from her.

"But grandmother, I'm confused. How could you be familiar with a knife that's been buried for centuries?"

"It has not been buried for centuries, Motoko, just for fifty years. And I thought I'd buried it deep enough that no one would find it or the presence sealed inside of it. I have no doubts that this is that very same knife that I hid so long ago."

Megumi held up the Knife, closed her eyes and concentrated for a moment, sensing. Then, with a gasp she opened her eyes and said,

"It's gone! The presence is gone! Motoko, please tell me. Who was the first one to find it, to touch it!"

"I-It was Keitaro. He brought it back home with him to the apartments. He was on an archeological dig here in Kyoto." Motoko said.

"Has he been acting differently since then? Become irritable, cruel?"

"Yes he has. In fact, it's gotten to the point where he's almost uncontrollable."

"But he hasn't tried to kill you yet. Hasn't threatened you in any way?" Megumi said, eagerly.

"Well, no!"

"Good, then it might not be too late." Megumi said, lifting her closed hand to her chin as her gaze fell slightly.

Motoko stood up and slammed her hands down on the table in front of her grandmother.

"Grandma, please tell me what's going on! What is happening to Keitaro!"

Megumi looked up at her granddaughter.

"Please sit down, Motoko. And I'll explain everything."

Motoko did as she said. Megumi placed the Knife on the table between them with the red Kanji facing up. Her grandmother began.

"The words inscribed on this knife say, 'Holder beware. Forbidden to disturb. Vengeful wraith contained herein. Sealed here, the spirit of Ichiro Akume.' These words, I inscribed. The origin of that name and the history of the Aoyama family are deeply rooted together.

"It all started two hundred years ago, right here in Kyoto. Kyoto was the capital then and the Emperor gave his unconditional support to your great ancestor, Shin Aoyama who, proved to create the greatest martial art in the land. With this support, Shin established the Aoyama Dojo, which still stands to this very day. As Head Master of that school, he taught there for many decades. Early in the Dojo's life, a new student named Ichiro Akume passed through its gates.

"Ichiro was a brilliant young man, possessing speed and reflexes that were unmatched by any of the other students. The most stunning thing about him was his eyes. They were such a light shade of hazel they almost appeared yellow. However, he had a quick temper and started to cause injuries to his fellow students during training. In light of this, Ichiro was suspended by the Head Master for two months.

"During these two months, Ichiro isolated himself in the deep wilderness that surrounded Kyoto. There, he developed and perfected a martial art of his own. An art that could effectively counter all the techniques of the Shin-Kami style taught by the Head Master. Ichiro called this new style of his 'Tsubasa no Aku' or 'Wings of the Demon'.

"He returned to the school, boasting about the new style he had created. He explained his new techniques to all the students that were present, even demonstrating the moves and as a result, permanently injuring several students. The Head Master saw this and immediately had Ichiro thrown out of the Dojo indefinitely. The Emperor dubbed 'Tsubasa no Aku' forbidden throughout the land.

"Ichiro banged on the locked gates of the Dojo for days, demanding a match with the Head Master so he may prove that his style was the superior. But the Master refused the challenge, thus infuriating Ichiro. He became so furious that he started to kill passers by with his art and lay them before the gates.

"Determined to put a stop to the madman Ichiro's bloodshed, Shin Aoyama opened the gates and met him in his challenge. The fight lasted only a few moments. Shin had performed a secret technique that only he himself had known and taught to no one. The technique involved the transference of all Shin's Chi into a single blow to the center of Ichiro's chest, sending a force through him so powerful that it exploded the main artery running through the center of his body.

"With his last breath, as he lay dying on the ground, Ichiro swore his revenge and would not rest until the entire Aoyama family is wiped out.

"True to his word, for a century and a half, the spirit of Ichiro Akume tormented each generation of Aoyamas. He would possess a family member and kill an entire family branch. Then he would disappear, only to return several years later to do the same to another family branch. Exorcisms were useless. His spirit was simply too powerful. He went on. Killing and disappearing, again and again.

"This continued until fifty years ago when I, a member of Onmyo mystics who married into the Aoyama family, summoned Ichiro's vengeful spirit. He had possessed an innocent bystander who stood nearby, someone who was not a member of the family. The battle ensued, my mystic spells against his forbidden art. With all my power I was finally able to seal his spirit into this very Knife.

"I inscribed the warning on the Knife, which was also part of the seal to hold his spirit inside. And so I buried it and remained here in Kyoto, should his spirit ever escape."

"And now, Ichiro has possessed Keitaro?" Motoko said.

With a sad nod, Megumi said, "I'm afraid so."

"Oh my God. What do I do?" Motoko said.

"Your only chance is to seal his spirit again."

"But Grandma, I can't do that. I'm not a mystic. Only you have that power."

"You are my granddaughter, Motoko. The blood in my veins also flows through yours. The power of an Onmyo is in you. Besides, I am old now and my powers have grown weak. Motoko, you are Keitaro's only hope. Ichiro will stop at nothing until all members of the Aoyama line are dead."

Motoko stared at her grandmother. Then she looked down at her hands.

'Flowing through my veins?'

Motoko closed her eyes, took in a deep breath and slowly let it out. She looked up at her grandmother with eyes filled with newfound strength and fervor.

"Grandmother. How do I seal the spirit?"

Inside the Hinata Teahouse, Naru had gathered all the girls together. She tried to explain the situation to each of them the best she could. However, everyone was still worried and fearful. They all sat together around a circular table in the back room of the teahouse with Haruka standing over them, holding a half burnt away cigarette between her fingers.

"But Naru-Yan. Is Keitaro sick? Will he get better? Does he need medicine?" Kaolla Su innocently asked, her face wrought with sadness.

"I just don't know, Su." Naru said.

"Oh, Keitaro. Keitaro." Shinobu said through her sobs.

"Naru, just where did Motoko go?" Kitsune asked.

"She went to Kyoto to see her Grandmother. She said that she might be the only one that can figure out what's wrong with Keitaro." Naru said.

"Oniisan. My Oniisan! Why won't you let me see my brother, Naru!" Kanako yelled.

"Because he's dangerous right now, Kanako. He might hurt you too." Naru said, raising her hand to her injured shoulder.

"I don't believe you!" Kanako protested as she stood up to leave, but was then held down by Haruka and Kitsune. "Let me go! I said let me go!"

"Now calm down, sweetie." Kitsune said, doing her best to restrain Kanako with Haruka's help.

"Believe me, Kanako. I'm just as worried about him as you are. We all are. But the best we can do now is stay away from him until Motoko returns." Naru said, rubbing her injured wrist in nervousness.

Knife in hand, Motoko quickly opened the front door of the apartment building and hurried down the steps. She ran out into the quiet street and headed on towards the train station, her long black hair flowing behind her. We look back and we see Keitaro standing in the middle of the street in front of the apartment building, silently watching Motoko as she ran farther and farther away. Keitaro then turned his eyes up to a set of windows on the second floor, forming a malicious smile.

Megumi sat down at her kitchen table. With a weary sigh, she picked up her cup of tea and took a sip. Then a loud crash came from the living room, startling her so much she almost dropped the cup on the floor. She quickly ran into the living room to see what the matter was. The apartment door had been busted in and lay in pieces across her living room floor. She cautiously looked around. No one outside the door, no one in the room. Megumi felt a shiver and then a terrible feeling that chilled her very soul.

Then, from behind her came a voice,

"Hello, Megumi."

She closed her eyes and said, "Hello, Ichiro."

"Just like old times, huh?"

"Yes." She said calmly as she heard the unsheathing of a sword.

A woman's terrible scream came from inside the apartment. Then…silence.


	8. Faith

You Have Me

Chapter 8

Naru stood outside the Hinata Teahouse alone. The sun had disappeared under the western horizon, which was growing darker. Its darkening blue was slowly receding into a faint afterglow. She looked back and forth between the apartments and the direction of the train station, her anxiousness becoming more obvious.

"It's been almost five hours now. Where could she be?"

Inside, Kanako had calmed down since earlier. Her argumentations and heated accusations had ceased. She was now sitting quietly at the table with her arms folded, staring down at the tabletop before her with an expression of weariness. Kitsune sat at the table also. She was leaning over the table while resting her chin on her left forearm as her finger continuously tapped on the table surface. Shinobu had stopped crying, but had since not said a word to anyone and isolated herself at the far corner of the room. She was facing away from the rest of the group, unable to meet eyes with anyone as she stood there holding herself while staring blankly at the floor. Su had become restless and impatient, relieving her frustration by jumping around the teahouse and hanging upside down from the wooden rafters. She swung from this place to that with groans and whines as if the flowing of time itself was overbearing on her.

Naru shivered as she felt the cold wind against her body, causing her to rub her arms for warmth. She turned to see Haruka, pacing back and forth nervously inside the Teahouse, which is something she never does. Her easy-going, never surprised by anything personality doesn't allow it.

Then Naru heard her name called from far away. She turned around and saw Motoko running towards her in full stride, the Knife in hand.

"Naru!"

"Motoko! Thank God you're back. All of us have been going crazy waiting for you." Naru said, as she caught her gently by the shoulders.

"I'm sorry for taking so long. How about Keitaro? Has anyone seen him?" she said, slipping the Knife into the top of her thigh high stalking underneath her skirt.

"No. No one's seen him since you left. We're not even sure if he's still in the house. Everything is all dark." Naru said, pointing to the building of dark windows.

"I see. Let's go inside. I have much to tell."

With Naru at her side, Motoko went into the teahouse. Motoko sat down with everyone and told of everything she had learned in Kyoto.

"So…Keitaro is possessed? So that's why his behavior has been so different lately." Haruka said, leaning over Motoko, a lit cigarette between her lips. "And that knife there is the cause."

"But Motoko, can't you bring the old Keitaro back? Can't you? Can't you?" Su said as she sat on top of the table.

"I promise I'll bring him back, Su. I'm the only one who can."

Motoko stood up. "I'm going now." Then she walked outside. She looked to the apartments and became silent for a moment. She narrowed her eyes and slowly tilted her head down as if trying to listen for something. Naru walked up closer behind her with unsure steps.

"He's there. He's in the back courtyard." Motoko said.

"What? But how do you know that?" Naru said, confused.

Motoko turned to Naru. "I don't know. Maybe he wants me to know where he is."

Then Motoko quickly turned towards the house as if something suddenly drew her attention.

"He wants me to go to him." Motoko said as she started towards the house but was stopped by Naru's hand grabbing the long sleeve of her uniform.

"Wait! Motoko, you don't have to do this. We can call the police. They can take care of him."

"Naru, even if they send a hundred police officers, they would still be no match for him."

"Even so, you don't have to face that monster. You don't have to risk your life." Naru said, now blocking Motoko's way.

"I can't believe what I'm hearing, Naru. That's still _our_ Keitaro inside that 'monster'. Have you completely lost all faith in him?"

"Well, no…but…"

"I'm going, Naru. And I'm bringing Keitaro back. Whether you believe in me or not."

Motoko pushed Naru aside with the back of her arm and went on towards the house.

Naru stood silent as she stared down at the ground, ashamed as she contemplated the full weight of Motoko's words.

'I do believe in you, Motoko. And I do have faith in Keitaro. I didn't mean to doubt either of you. Good luck, Motoko. Please bring our Keitaro back to us.' Naru thought, looking up to Motoko's now distant form.

Motoko entered the house. All was dark and dead silent. She could feel him, stronger than ever. His presence was like a bright beacon shining in the middle of a dark sea. She ran towards that beacon. Her breaths roared in her ears. In and out, sounding like the breathing of a great beast confined inside an immense cave. Her heartbeat was like the beating of a large drum. Deep, steady. Boom boom boom. She knows she's not ready for this. But she has to do this. Keitaro's very soul depends on it.

She threw open the sliding door to the courtyard. There, in the center of the yard stood a lone figure amidst the light mist that clung low to the ground. His back was turned to her as he stood, statue-like. He turned his head to the side ever so slightly to acknowledge her presence. Motoko carefully began to close the short distance between them. The moment she did this, he spoke.

"I've been waiting for you, last descendent of Aoyama." He then quickly turned around to face her. "Motoko Aoyama, great descendent of Shin Aoyama."

Motoko, staying where she was, said "Keitaro? Is that you?"

"I can feel it. The spirit of Shin is strongest in you."

Lowering her brow, she said. "Ichiro."

"Right you are."

He turned to look at the rolling hills on the distant horizon, which was emphasized by the rising moon. After a few seconds, he spoke again.

"Aoyama: 'Green Mountain'. Shin was so like a mountain: Immovable, unyielding. Unwilling to accept change, to accept that my Tsubasa no Aku was superior." He then clenched his fist.

"Shin-Kami Ryu is not inferior! It teaches us to improve ourselves. To strengthen our spirit and become one with the Chi that flows to us from the earth. It will always defeat a style created only to murder and oppress!" She contested.

He stared at her for a moment. He smiled. Suddenly his eyes flashed the color of gold and then went back to black.

With a gasp of realization, Motoko said,

"It's you. You're the one who's been haunting Keitaro's dreams."

"Correct again. I needed him in order to escape my prison."

"What have you done with Keitaro?! Is he…"

"Oh, he's still in this body, but not for long. My spirit is far stronger than his. Soon he will simply disappear. I do have to say though, he did put up a good fight. I wasn't able to completely take over his body until just a few hours ago."

"You let him go!!"

"No. I think not." He said, starting to walk towards her. "Besides, I need this body to achieve my goal. It's been fifty years. I have a lot of catching up to do. And I've already gotten started. How was your visit with your grandmother, by the way?"

"H-How did you know about that?"

"I do hope you spent some quality time with her. After you left, I paid her a little visit myself." He said, slowly circling her as she stood there hanging on his every word.

"No…" Motoko shook her head as a tear formed in her eye. "What did you do to her?!"

"Let's just say I added a little color to the walls of her apartment. Red adds so much more vibrance to that place, don't you think? It looked so dreary with just white." He started to laugh in his own amusement.

"Oh, Grandma. No." Motoko raised her hand to her face. "You bastard!" she fell to her hands and knees and struck at the dirt with her fist as the tears flowed down her face.

"Luckily, the Aoyama family has grown thin, leaving only a few left. Can't say that I'm not to blame, of course." He stood over Motoko, looked at her and gently placed his hand on her back, feigning a comforting gesture.

"Don't worry, little Motoko. The suffering you feel now will soon be over. After I kill you, you will soon be joined by your father Kenji, your mother Himiko, and your dear sister Tsuruko."

At that, she looked up at him and slapped away his hand with a fiery hatred in her eyes.

She now stood tall before him. "It ends tonight!"

"Hah! You think you can stop me?" He looked closer into her eyes as she stared back at him in earnest. "What fuels that passion I see in your eyes? Is it the sorrow for your dearly departed grandmother? Or…is it your undying love for Urashima."

"You'll never know, Ichiro, because you will never understand. I will stop you!"

"Then come! Show me how strong you really are, Motoko Aoyama!" He said, drawing his sword.

Motoko drew her sword as well, taking her stance.

Narrowing her eyes, Motoko then held her sword horizontally before her and said,

"I call upon the binding rings of the Green Dragon! Bind this man who stands before my sight!"

At those words, three green glowing rings appeared around his body, restraining him.

As he struggled, she walked up to him and said,

"Give up, Ichiro. Return Keitaro to me. I don't wish to do battle and cause pain to Keitaro's body."

He just smiled. "Good. Then that will make it easier for me to kill you!" The rings shattered from his body, the shards becoming dim and fading into nothing at his feet.

He swung his sword at Motoko as she was momentarily caught off guard. Suddenly she disappeared from his sight. He raised an eyebrow and then carefully scanned his surroundings.

"Come out, Aoyama! I promise to make your death quick and painful, hah hah!"

Motoko sat behind a nearby boulder, out of breath. She had used her samurai skill of speed to escape his blade with barely a cut across her left shoulder, which was just beginning to bleed.

'The binding spell didn't work. He's just too strong. I have no choice but to resort to a physical attack to subdue him.'

She stepped out from behind the boulder and stood calmly before him. Drops of blood began to trickle down her left arm, but she paid no attention. He looked her over with an amused smile. She raised her sword and pointed it to him in an unspoken challenge.

"Ah, courage in the face of certain death. That's what I like to see." He said, raising his sword to hers.

"The one who truly deserves certain death is you, Ichiro." She said in disdain.

"No more talk!"

She was then thrown back to the ground by a powerful wind. As she looked, she could make out the dark outline of black wings, extending from his back as he raised up into the air. With a quick lift and snap of her legs, she was back on her feet. Fully manifesting her Chi in a shining white glow around her, she flew up into the air and met him high above the ground. She lifted her sword up and crossed blades with his in a brilliant flash of light. Their eyes were locked in hatred. Still holding his sword crossed against hers, he moved in close, smiled and said,

"Death comes for us all. Why torment yourself? Give up now. Defeat is inevitable."

"I'm not going to die tonight!" She said, striking his blade away, sending him back several feet.

She dashed back, creating a greater distance between them.

"White Dragon Wind Blade, Third form!" She called out.

The Technique sent a powerful force of white energy from her sword. He blocked it with a clear exhausting effort on his part. Then he formed a smirk.

"Not bad. My turn." He raised his sword up high. The blade turned black as his energy flowed into it. "Black Tempest, second form!"

The swift black wave caught her off guard, sending her plummeting back towards the ground.

She landed on her back hard. The impact had almost knocked the wind out of her. She looked up to see him thrusting his sword down on her. She barely rolled out of the way in time. The sword went into the ground where she had laid, penetrating the spot where her heart would have been. His feet caused deep imprints where they landed with a loud 'thud'. Wasting no time, she came at him from the side. He parried her advance and pushed her back.

The battle ensued. Their blades striking at lightning speed, moving from one side of the courtyard to the other and then back again. Motoko was giving it everything she had, but she was slowly losing the advantage. His movements were just too fast. It was becoming a struggle just to keep up with him.

Quickly coming up with a new strategy, Motoko feigned a sword strike from the left and instead hit him hard with a roundhouse kick from the right, sending him rolling across the grass. He came to a stop and seeming disoriented, looked up at Motoko as she ran towards him with her sword high. He widened his eyes and said,

"Motoko, wait!"

Motoko stopped.

"Keitaro? Is that you?" She said, recognizing his voice.

"Where am I? What's going on here?"

"Keitaro." She said, walking up to him and reaching out her hand to help him.

After she came up close, he smiled and yelled,

"Sucker!"

Grasping his sword, he struck her with a swift hit, which she was barely able to block. They continued their duel at an incredible speed until Motoko was able to finally send the sword flying from his hand. This did not stop him, however. Dodging her three sword strikes that followed, he performed a spin kick and knocked her sword out of her hand. Before she could even react, he moved in close and started a barrage of hyper-fast punches to her chest. After that, he spun around gave a powerful kick to her chest that sent her flying 30 feet right into a tall boulder.

In a state of shock, her legs failed her and she fell to her hands and knees. Every breath was like burning brimstone in her chest. Then came a horrible choking cough that sent unbearable pain through her upper body. Through the blurry haze, her eyes focused on the ground below her and she was terrified to discover that she had coughed up blood. Much blood. Her breathing was labored, becoming a struggle. She was so weak she couldn't even move as her body began to shake.

She looked up to see his feet there before her. Then she felt a strong hand grip around her throat and lift her up at level with his gaze. He slowly drew her in close and looked into her wavering eyes, forming a smile of victory.

"This is pathetic. I have seen the day when an Aoyama could split the very heavens with their blade. The bloodline has grown weak!" He drew a breath, savoring this moment. "Time to die, little girl. The Aoyama Family will finally fall and then my vengeance will be fulfilled."

Motoko mumbled something inaudible. He loosened his grip, brought her closer and said,

"What was that?"

She closed her eyes, shedding tears down her cheeks.

"I…I love you…Keitaro."

Then he felt a deep, stabbing pain. He looked down to see that she had pulled out the Knife and plunged it into his mid-section. Dropping her, he stumbled back and said,

"H-How…how could you…"

"I'm so sorry, Keitaro." She said, barely able to hold herself up.

He collapsed, the blade still in him. Motoko remembered back to what her Grandmother had told her.

"_Grandmother, how do I seal the spirit?_"

"_The Knife. It is his only weakness. It is imbued with the sealing power of Onmyo. You must plunge it into the center of his body where the spirit maintains control. Then you must chant the sacred spell._

'Kaeru ni kimi no keimusho, kokoro.' _Only then will he once again be sealed into the blade_."

Motoko put her hands together and spoke the words.

"Kaeru ni kimi no keimusho, kokoro! Spirit, return to your prison!"

With a scream, Ichiro Akume was pulled into the Knife's blade in a brilliant swirl of light and dark energy. She quickly knelt down, pulled the Knife from Keitaro's body and resheathed it, completing the seal. She cast the Knife aside and drew Keitaro up into her arms.

"Keitaro? Keitaro! Speak to me!" She said, shaking him.

He slowly opened his eyes and looked up at Motoko. With a smile he said,

"Motoko is that you? Everything is all blurry."

Motoko reached into her pocket, pulled out his glasses and put them on him.

"Thanks, that's much better." Then he noticed the blood dripping from the corner of her mouth. "A-Are you okay?"

Showing him a smile, "I'll be fine."

"I'm so sorry, Motoko. He hurt you. He did such terrible things and there was nothing I could do to stop him. Ah!" He drew his hand to his wound. His voice became weak. "I guess…it was necessary, huh?"

"Forgive me, my love. It was the only way to save you." She said, placing her hand over his.

The blood from his wound was starting to soak her clothes. His voice was now little more than a whisper. "It…It's alright…you did save me…I'm just glad…I got to see you one last time."

His eyes closed and he became silent.

"Keitaro, stay with me!" she said, shaking him. "Keitaro? Keitaro! KEITAROOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The camera turns away and fades to black. We open up again on a daytime scene overlooking a large cemetery. The skies are overcast as the cold wind constantly blows from the North. We see a bouquet of flowers laid at a single grave. The camera moves up to show that they were laid there by Motoko. A sad expression across her face, she slowly stands up and folds her hands before her in a moment of silence.

The camera slowly pans right to show Keitaro doing the same. His midsection was wrapped with white bandages that showed inside his open jacket. The epitaph on the grave before them read,

"Aoyama Megumi

1935-2003

Her love and strength

will always be remembered"

After a long moment, Keitaro put a hand on her shoulder. She looked into his eyes and he slowly brought her into his arms.

"She was a wonderful woman who carried a terrible burden, Motoko. Now she can finally rest."

From his shoulder she simply gave a nod.

"Let's go." He said quietly.

They gave their last respects and then walked on towards the cemetery gates.

After a long silent train ride, they arrived back at Hinata. Two days had passed since the ordeal with the spirit of Ichiro Akume ended. The Knife had been cast into the fires of Mount Fuji, where no one may retrieve it ever again. Keitaro had made a miraculous recovery. The emergency room staff said he would not have survived had he not immediately been taken into medical care. The doctors were very skeptical of the story they were told as to the cause of his injury, but asked no further questions afterward. Motoko never left his side the entire time he was in the hospital. After coming home from the hospital, he was met by everyone's thankful cries. Keitaro looked at Naru and then to her shoulder. He began to apologize, but she just took him in her arms and told him how glad she was that he was okay. All the other girls joined into the hug, saying how thankful they were that he was back. However, Shinobu was nowhere in sight.

Motoko and Keitaro walked into the front lobby and took off their shoes.

"Keitaro, I just need to make a quick phone call. Why don't you go on ahead upstairs." She said to him as she walked towards the lobby phone.

"Okay, I'll see you in a little bit."

Keitaro made his way up the staircase slowly, careful not to upset his wound. Over the past two days he had not seen Shinobu at all. She had made herself scarce, taking her meals when no one else was around, eating very early in the morning and then late at night. He thought it was understandable that she was most likely avoiding him after what had happened.

He opened his door and walked into his room. He laid his jacket on top of his dresser, looked over and was surprised to see none other than Shinobu there, sitting at his desk.

"Sh-Shinobu."

Shinobu stood up and walked over to him. She opened her mouth to say something, but then hesitated and remained silent. Not wanting this awkwardness to continue, Keitaro took it upon himself to brake the silence.

"Shinobu…I just want to say…that I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you like that."

She looked down and then turned away from him.

"I know…I know it wasn't your fault. You were possessed by the evil spirit, right? So it's okay, because…"

She quickly turned to him and said, "…because I know my Sempai would never say those things to me!"

She showed him her bright smile that he missed so much. She ran up and gave him a big hug, resting her head on his chest. Placing his hand on her head, he said,

"You are very dear to me, Shinobu. All of you are." He held her close.

Then, without warning, she pulled back, placed her hands on his face drawing him down, and kissed his lips. After a moment she broke the kiss, stepped back and looked up at her surprised Sempai with a big smile.

"I love you very much, Keitaro. I'm so very grateful you came to be here with us. I wish you and Motoko nothing but the best. I'll see you at dinner, Sempai!"

Then she happily trotted past him and out his door. He ran and looked out his door to the left and watched in awe as she disappeared down the stairs.

"Keitaro." He heard behind him.

"Erk!" He sounded after he turned to see Motoko standing there. He waved his hands in front of him saying, "Motoko, um, it's not what you think! Shinobu, she um-"

"It's alright, Keitaro. I forgive you." She said, interrupting him. "I saw everything. Shinobu is happy again, after all, isn't she?"

Showing her a pleasant smile, he said, "Yeah, she is."

They stepped into his room and shared a silent moment as they looked lovingly into each other's eyes. Then they drew close as she slowly wrapped her arms around the back of his neck and he placed his arms around her waist until they met in a passionate kiss. Opening one eye, he noticed his open door. Without breaking the kiss, Keitaro reached over and slid his door closed, giving them some privacy.

And so, life was back to normal at the apartments, if there is such a thing as 'normal' in Hinata. The terrible events that had occurred were left to the past where they belong, slowly fading like a nightmare in the morning sunshine. In the wake of these events, the tragedy that had ensued only proved to strengthen the bonds between Hinata Sou's residents. After these past few years, through trial and tribulation, the residents were no longer residents. They had become a close family.

End


End file.
